The Mysterious Master Croc
by MusicalNinja15
Summary: Just mere days after the defeat of Lord Shen, Po learns yet another shocking and troubling fact. But this time, it's not about him. With the help of his favorite feline friend, can Po unravel the story of the Mysterious Master Croc? PoxTigress. Note: I do not own Kung Fu Panda.
1. Secrets Revealed

_**Hi everyone! This is my first fanfic! I was originally on Nick. I still am, but on here, I can revise my story so it's even better! Please read and review! Oh, when leaving a review, please DO NOT use any foul language. Thank you. Now enjoy!**_

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_Chapter One: Secrets Revealed_

The start of a story is important, so is the ending. You need a plot, a climax, and an ending that everyone will remember. An ending that makes everyone go, 'Aw…' makes them cry, or makes you want to see what happens next. You need morals that will make people think.

These movies have it all.

The last one ended with bittersweet family issues, friendships growing stronger, and finding out who you are and how you approach life.

It made us want more.

This story is about more surprising secrets. It's about forgetting the past because it doesn't make you who you are.

YOU choose to be who you are.

This story also starts out with a demand….

"Tell us! Tell us!"

"Ugh!" Tigress groaned. They had been at her for minutes! Didn't they realize she didn't want to talk about it!

Dear readers, what could this be? Are they trying to force her to blurt out her feelings for Po? Trying to make her do a dare?!

No, in fact, it was nothing like that. But you all were pretty close.

The long, **true**, and perhaps shocking story that I'm about to tell you all started at the dinner table.

The Dragon Warrior and the world famous Furious Five had settled down and were having a delicious supper.

Grandmaster Shifu usually ate with everyone, but tonight, he was studying the latest scrolls and filling out important papers.

Since everyone fought all the time about what Po would cook, he created a meal chart so everyone would get a chance to pick the entrée (And believe me, you don't want to see them fight. It's worse than the Wuxi Finger Hold!).

It was Tigress' choice night, so they were having tofu stir fry, her favorite meal.

Everyone was tired; the day had been rather tough.

They had begun with waking up earlier than usual due to the village being attacked. Lately, after the defeat of Lord Shen, the burglaries in The Valley Of Peace had been at an all time low. Maybe the bandits had finally figured that the warrior's homeland was called Valley of Peace for a reason. That, or they decided give the villagers more nightmares by raiding the store super early!

The fight was soon followed by a scrumptious breakfast, then an 'awesome' training session which turned into kind of an annoying workout when Master Shifu started shouting at them on their way out…

"Do your homework! I need it in by tomorrow! Tigress and Viper are the only ones that have turned it in! Do your homework! Do your homework!"

If you're wondering what homework has to deal with training, you'll have to wait and see…

Hours later, everyone had walked to the kitchen with grumbling tummies.

The aroma of the delectable meal was so strong, you could smell it all the way from the peach blossom tree.

Monkey and Mantis licked their lips; they felt like they could almost taste the stir-fry.

They waited until everyone was seated and served to dig in.

It certainly was the best tofu stir-fry Tigress had ever tasted. Having delicious food like this every night made her wish she had been nicer to Po about his cooking when he first came. Instead, she had of accused him of not eating like a true warrior. But even after having treating him like dirt, he never seemed to hold a grudge and still cooked everyone's favorite meals, including hers.

That was one of the reasons the wise, all-knowing, turtle, known as Grandmaster Oogway had chosen the panda as the Dragon Warrior.

While they ate they talked about upcoming seminars, joked around, and laughed at the most hilarious things.

One of which, was Gongmen City.

It had only been one week since they had defeated the evil, cold, peacock, known as Lord Shen. The last thing Tigress thought they would ever talk about was the latest victory. It had been a hard and difficult journey, especially for Po.

He had found out that he had been adopted. That wasn't too surprising for Tigress, knowing that Po's father was a goose. But the way Po had been adopted was a rather heartbreaking realization. His parents and the whole population of pandas had been killed.

Leaving Po to be the last panda in the world.

Surprisingly, the person that had killed Po's parents was none other than the devious peacock, Shen. Tigress thought that Po didn't like to talk about what had happened with his parents, but he seemed fine about it.

He said that even though he had a terrible beginning in his life, his life now was more than he could have ever dreamed of.

But thankfully, this wasn't the case.

They were all joking about some of the funniest moments in the past week.

"That was hilarious, Monkey! The Caw Caw Cawkee!" Mantis chortled.

Crane tried to hide his shame by pulling his straw hat over his eyes. "Seriously! I never do that EVER!" he protested.

"Uh… hate to break it to you buddy," Po interjected. "But you did it when we were trying to block the harbor entrance with the boats."

"No, I didn't!" Crane cried.

"I was right below you, how I could I not know?" Po shot back.

"I did nothing of the sort." The avian replied, which caused everyone to burst out into laughter.

Po looked at Viper and laughed.

"Remember when we were running away from the bandits, and we got into those barrels?" He got on the floor and started to pretend he was rolling in a barrel.

Tigress couldn't help but grin; Po had the wildest imagination. He could make anyone laugh in almost any situation.

"When I was still in mine, I thought I had a 'Kung Fu chill running up my spine.'" He motioned over to Viper and she slithered next to him.

"Then Viper came out of my barrel and went…"

Viper pretended to poke her head out of Po's fantasy barrel and whispered. "Sorry Po, that's just me."

Po smiled cheerfully and laughed. "Wasn't that perfect timing?"

Everyone looked at the panda in question.

"When did that happen?" Mantis asked.

"Yeah," Crane cut in, "I didn't get to see it."

Po gestured to his best feline friend. "Tigress was there."

"Yes, she was." Viper confirmed. "It happened right outside Gongmen Jail."

Mantis stared at Tigress like he was trying to hypnotize her. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how funny was that?"

Tigress looked up slowly from her food, trying not to wince from the soreness in her neck. "It seemed like a 6."

"Ooh, Ooh!" Monkey exclaimed. "How about in the jail, when Po was trying to get the masters out of their cell. What was that face that Master Croc made at you, Tigress?"

"Yeah," Mantis joined in. "He looked like he'd seen a ghost!"

Po looked to Tigress, "Why would he make a face at you?"

"She probably scared him!" Monkey joked.

Tigress was irritated; the last thing she needed was the Monkey and Mantis making fun of her. To top that, her burns from the previous battle had been painful the last few days.

So to express her annoyance, she shot a 'Mess with me again, and you'll be hurting' look. Monkey quickly turned away, as if he had lost interest.

Mantis on the other hand, wanted some answers.

He leaned in closer. "_**Why did he look at you like that Tigress**_**?"**

The feline remained quiet and refused to answer. Usually, she would be socializing with her comrades. But tonight, the violent headache she had been suffering from was killing her and she just didn't want to be pestered.

The insect continued to ask the same question over and over again until he and the others started chanting:

"Tell Us! Tell Us!"

Po tried to stop them, although he was interested too, he knew when Tigress didn't want to be bothered. "Come on, guys! Let her be! Crane! Viper! Why are you chanting too?"

Viper and Crane realized what they were doing and immediately stopped.

But unfortunately, the primate and the praying mantis did not.

"Tell Us! Tell Us!"

So here she was, arguing with herself. She _really _didn't want to get into this. She had held this secret in for so long. Couldn't she keep it in a little more? Who knew what would happen if word got out to Master Shifu? But if she didn't, she would never hear the end of it. This was the time when she should've just walked away. But instead, she took a deep breath and decided it was time to reveal a piece of her past.

_**"The reason why you little annoyances, is because Croc used to be a bandit."**_

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**So there you have it! There is the first chapter of the Mysterious Master Croc! How do you think the others will react? And trust me, it's going to get even more mysterious….**

**Please read and review to tell me how I'm doing! I am open to constructive criticism, anything to help be a better writer! **


	2. Realization

**A/N: Hello again! Here is chapter two of The Mysterious Master Croc!** **I want to send a special shout-out to ShadowBrook17 for helping me get this story on here. I couldn't have done it without her!**

**Then I would like to ask all of you to pray for my taekwondo instructor who is having surgery tomorrow. My instructors have helped me in so many ways; they have inspired me to put my own skills in my stories. Please pray for him.**

**Also, I just want you to know that the story will be told in 2****nd**** person. Meaning I will be talking in and out of the story.** **Thank you all for reviewing the first chapter! You all made my day! Sorry about this kind of late update, I've had the busiest weekend! There is nothing like playing your harp for 6 hours straight in 3 days! My fingers hurt so badly! I've had a pretty rough day, so all I want to do is write my story! Okay, hope you enjoy! Please read and review!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

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_Chapter Two: Realization_

Just split seconds after the words left Tigress' lips, she knew that this was going to cause a chain of events.

Humph, talk about 'Think before you speak'…

Now, all of you at home are probably on the edge of your seat, desperate to know if this is true. Tigress is usually a very smart person, even though there have been some times where she was foolish; she still has very good instincts. Dear readers, I'm here to tell you that when Tigress knows there's going to be a chain of events….

**She's always right.**

The room was filled with an utterly, dark, silence. The kind of silence that makes your stomach twist into knots, the kind of silence that makes you feel like you're in trouble. The helpless tiger couldn't tell what the others were thinking. She usually could see right through everyone's emotions. But the looks she was getting were mixed with confusion, anger, sadness, and surprise. They had never expected Tigress to reveal anything as shocking as that tidbit of information.

The only one in the room that didn't seem disturbed was Mantis. He had heard worse things then knowing that the Ferocious Master Croc had been a bandit. The praying mantis just shrugged and continued to eat his stir-fry. The results of pestering Tigress hadn't been worth it. One day though, one day…

The only sound in the room was the consistent ticking of chopsticks and the chewing of their 'little' friend.

The feline straightened her traditional Chinese vest. She then noticed that the bandages wrapped underneath her shirt was so tight that it was causing the bottom of the vest to tear. She made a mental note to herself to get the vest tailored. She looked back to the situation she was in. No one had said anything. This was very unlikely for everyone! Had she never before told a secret this big that it left them speechless?

Ping! Ping! Ping! Went Mantis' chopsticks.

The insect devoured the rest of his food and tried to make small talk. "So, did you see that bandit today? He took that lady's dumplings and ate them before she smacked him across the room! I'm telling you, we didn't have to go, she had it under control!"

Despite how stupid that sounded, everyone except Po and Tigress joined in the conversation to try to stop the awkwardness.

Viper nodded. "Yeah, I saw that! I have to admit," she giggled. "It was pretty funny!"

Crane flapped his wings. "The poor lady was just trying to defend herself!"

"Well," Monkey chimed in. "Knowing to defend yourself is the first step to being a Kung Fu warrior!"

Po frowned. He couldn't believe it! Tigress had just told them something really shocking, and here were his buddies, talking about a lady outraged over losing her dumplings. Hmm, he would probably be the same way.

The panda held up his hand. "I'm sorry, what?!" he exclaimed.

"It's true, Po." said Mantis.

"What's true?" he asked.

"That lady. Didn't you see her?!"

"No," he snapped back. "But that's not what I'm talking about. Master Croc was a bandit? That's not true. It can't be."

He looked to Tigress and laughed. "Yeah, that was a good one Tigress. Very funny, you almost had me there…" He paused when he realized that his comrades were not joining in his shaky laughter.

Mantis tried his best to break it to him easily. "Um…Po…that's also true…"

The panda started to laugh again. "Oh look! You're kidding too!" he said.

Tigress sighed and grabbed Po's arm. "No Po, look at me." She said.

Po turned to face Tigress and stared at her in confusion. This was not going to end well…

"Po, it is true." She admitted. "Master Croc used to be a bandit." She paused and remembered something Po had told her himself. "But it's in the past, right?"

Ooh! Nothing like getting choked by your own words! Po frowned, noticing what his best friend had just said. But he realized that she was right (As always! If you don't believe me, go to the paragraph where I just said how smart she is.) and slowly started to nod.

Then the dreadfully, deep, dank, silence returned to the kitchen.

Yes, Po knew that she was right. It was in the past and it didn't matter. However, his fanboy side wanted to ask a little bit more, to know the story of Master Croc's backround!

He put his finger on top of the table and moved it around in a circling motion. "So," he started. "How come I didn't know?" he asked.

Tigress looked to him. "Some things are best kept secret. Especially, if it's personal."

"But…" he replied. "I've been his fan forever! Just like you guys! I know all your battles, your achievements, hehe, even when you were sick or injured!"

"Well," Mantis chuckled. "Looks like someone's been snooping!"

Viper glared at Monkey. "Seriously," she said. "Can't you remember to lock the hall of records!"

Tigress put her hand on her head and rubbed her temples. Dumb headache…

Crane rolled his eyes at his friends. "Po, just because you've been his fan forever doesn't mean you know everything about him."

"Or us." Tigress muttered.

Because Po was sitting right next to her, he heard her comment and was strangely puzzled by it.

"What do you mean by that Tigress?" He wiggled his fingers. "Do you have some deep, dark, secret?"

Tigress gave him an ominous look. Yikes! She didn't think anyone heard that! But, that was another true thing about her. She did have a deep, dark, secret. Only a few people knew of it. But no, she wouldn't be telling this secret anytime soon… No, not even you the reader will find out about her secret.

So she simply looked into Po's jade green eyes and said very tersely, "No," she wiggled her fingers back at him. "I don't have a deep, dark, spooky secret."

Po just looked at his best friend and chuckled. She was such a bad liar.

"Ooh! Ooh! I have one!" Monkey teased. "I have a deep, dark, secret that none of you can guess!"

Po smiled deviously. "I've known about you and the almond cookies for a long time Monkey." he shot back.

Monkey was speechless.

For the (I don't know, I lost count!) time, silence filled the kitchen. Well, it wasn't that silent. I think everyone was trying to hold back his or her laughter.

It wasn't until Viper broke the silence that everyone started to relax and be themselves.

"Tea anyone?" the snake asked.

"Yes, I will." Tigress replied. "I've got a terrible headache."

"I'll have some too." Po said. _"Maybe it will calm my nerves."_ He thought.

While Viper prepared the tea the rest of the gang chatted except for Po and Tigress. Out of all the shock and surprises that last week had brought, this was unusually hard to take in. Po couldn't believe it! The Ferocious Master Croc had been a bandit! How could that be true? Ever since he had been old enough to read, he always loved the Masters of Kung Fu. He'd known all the biggest battles and the Master's greatest strengths. Croc had been known for his spiky back being so strong that nothing could break it, he had incredible skills in setting traps that no one could escape, and who couldn't forget his signature moves… the double jump split and his famous 'Lashing Tail of Terror'!

Po closed his eyes and remembered the last week's final events. His facial expression and thoughts were slightly confused yet happy as he remembered the last words he had exchanged with Croc…

_Moments after the amazingly, beautiful, fireworks celebration of the defeat of the evil, ruthless Lord Shen had ended, Master Shifu had ordered everyone to help get rid of the discarded boats and metal floating aimlessly the harbor. Everyone had been paired with a partner to get the job done faster. Po had been paired with Master Croc. They set out to work right at the dock. Croc would hop in the water and hoist some wood or metal out the bay while Po put the rubble into separate piles. After a few hours in the sweltering heat, they took a break. _

_The crocodile got out of the cool water and put his hand on Po's shoulder._

_"Well," he said. " I've seen you've found inner peace, congratulations."_

_Po smiled. "Thank you."_

"_Dragon Warrior!" they heard. "Get back to work! Break time's over!" the voice was none other than Master Shifu. He was all about time management…_

"_Yes Master!" they called back. Then they quickly went straight back to work._

_After a few short hours, the work was done and it was time to head back to the Valley of Peace. Before Po boarded their boat, Master Croc pulled the panda aside and smiled at him. _

"_You're on the right path son," The look in Croc's eyes changed, as if remembering something. "Do a favor for me and stay on the right path."_

_"Yes sir." Po replied. "I plan on doing that."_

_The crocodile chuckled and glanced over at Tigress who was busy loading supplies on the boat for the long journey back home. "It's been um...nice to see you and all of your um...friends." he said._

Only now on this quiet summer night had Po realized that Croc's favor was more important than he had thought…

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**Whoa! This is a lot to take in, huh? There is chapter two! Hope you enjoyed it!**

**I would like to give some credit to my little brother for helping make up the part about the 'lady and her dumplings'.**

**And please tell me if everything in the story except that flashback is in the strange italics! It might be a glitch or something. Please tell me so I can try to work it out!**

**Please review! There is a saying that you should make someone smile everyday. You can be that person! Just say anything, whether its 'cool' or 'good job' you'll make me smile no matter what you say! Even if I live millions of miles apart from you, you've made my day! Catch you later!**


	3. Wondering

**Hi fellow readers! I'm back with another chapter of this _mysterious_ story! Thank you all for reviewing! You always make my day! Please read & review! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.**

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_Chapter Three: Wondering_

Po's head was swirling with thoughts.

_Master Croc._

_Bandit._

_Crook._

_My Hero._

_Tigress._

_Best Friend._

_Hurt._

_Why?_

_Yum._

_Dumplings…_

_Almond Cookies._

_Croc._

_A bandit?_

_Why?_

"**Po."**

_His promise…_

_Why?_

"**Po**_…_**."**

_How could that be-_

"**PO**!"

Tigress waved her paw in front of his face. Grr… would he ever quit daydreaming?

Ahh, daydreaming. There's nothing like the feeling of being lost in your thoughts. Thoughts, dreams, déjà vu, all these things are fantasy of the mind. I daydream a lot. My little brother has to wave his hand in front of me to get me to stop. I'll do it when he's talking to me. Usually, I daydream about this website, and what's going to happen next in all these wonderful stories. But hopefully, there will always someone to snap me out of my Kung Fu Panda daydreaming…

Now, back to the story.

Sometimes, Po would be talking to someone and then he eyes would go somewhere else, then he'd stare at the object forever until someone snapped him out of it! One of the Furious Five and Shifu's fears was that Po might start daydreaming during a battle. They prayed that it would never happen.

This time, he seemed to be thinking – no daydreaming – very hard.

"It's okay Tigress," Monkey said. "I've got him this time."

The primate elbowed Mantis and snickered.

Oh no. This wasn't going to end well…

"Oh Po!" Mantis giggled. "We have a surprise for you! Monkey has agreed to give you all his almond cookies for free! He says-"

"Hey!" Monkey butted in. "That wasn't the plan!"

Mantis chortled. "Oh, it wasn't?" he said sarcastically. "What is the plan again?"

Monkey leaned in and whispered into Mantis' little antennae.

Crane groaned. "You guys have a plan now? That's ridiculous!"

"Okay, ready?" Monkey asked.

Mantis nodded. "Ready. Don't' kill us Tigress."

Tigress frowned. "Why would I – Oh no! You-"

Before the two rascals could do anything, Tigress quickly jumped up and did something she would never do to Po.

Well, never mind, she pushed him last week.

She shoved Po off his chair and he landed on the floor with a thud.

Crane counted his feathers "Three, two, one.."

"Ow!" Po cried! "What was that for?"

Tigress glared at the two troublemakers and smirked at the panda.

"You were daydreami – thinking." she replied and helped him back up to his seat.

Ugh. Whatever those two were going to say or do, Tigress didn't want to get involved. Like the last time, they had embarrassed her by putting pepper up her nose. The results were too unbearable to remember...

She shook her head, ridding her thoughts of the pepper-incident and helped Po up from the floor.

"Your tea's done." she said.

"Oh, thanks." he mumbled. He was still thinking about what Croc had asked him to do one week ago.

The panda lifted the steaming teacup to his mouth and smelled the sweet scent of the honey bush leaves. He was about to take a sip when Viper cut in.

"Oh! Be careful Po!" the reptile warned. "It's a bit hot."

Po grimaced; he didn't want to get burned. He slowly set the cup back down and sighed. No tea to drink…was this night going to get any worse?

Tigress on the other hand, just took her tea and drank almost all of it! _'Ahh, much better.'_ she thought.

Monkey looked at the tiger, shocked. "How did you do that!? This tea's so hot I can't even touch my cup much less drink it!

Tigress just shrugged. "I just wanted to drink some tea…" She finished her sentence by drinking the rest of the hot liquid in her cup.

Everyone just looked at her like she was crazy. She was soooo hardcore. She could do anything. But the last week's events had caused her friends to know that she wasn't a machine that did Kung Fu. No, she was a person, um, tiger that was capable of her own feelings and emotions, she just didn't like to show them so much. Maybe it's because she was hurt in the past…

Po tapped Tigress on her shoulder. She turned towards him with her eyebrows raised. "What?" she asked.

"Didn't that hurt?"

"No, it didn't. I like when the tea is hot."

This was such an awkward conversation… They stared at each other, as if they were communicating in a secret language.

Finally, after the seconds felt like minutes, Tigress spoke.

"Po," she said. "You look...distraught."

He looked at his friend. She had that look of concern in her eyes. She didn't look well though, her bandages around her arm and waist made her look like a cannonball had hit her. Well, it was because a cannonball _had_ hit her. Why had she pushed him out of the way? She was got hurt and it was all his fault.

He shook himself and smiled at her with sympathy. "You um...don't look to good yourself."

She smiled slightly with amusement at the panda's answer. Then she slowly got out of her chair and excused herself from the table, saying that she wanted to retire early.

"And boys," she reminded. "Don't' forget to finish your papers for Master Shifu tomorrow. I can't imagine his face if you don't." And with that, she left the kitchen and strode down the hallway to her room.

"Goodnight!" Po called. Then he turned back to his teacup, which by the way was still full.

"Po," Viper sighed. "What's wrong? You look so…down."

Po shrugged. "I don't know," he mumbled. "Maybe I'm a _little shocked _about what Tigress just told us about Croc. I'm having a hard time taking this all in…"

Viper looked to the rest of the gang for help, she didn't know what to say. Finding out that the crocodile was a bandit was very unbelievable for her too! She tapped Mantis with the tip of her tail.

"Say something!" she whispered.

"Huh?" the insect whispered back. Then Viper gave him a look. "Oh! Okay…"

"Po," Mantis said. "You just found out that Master Croc used to be a bandit," he stated. "So what? He's good now, that's all that matters."

Po sighed, "Okay, you're right."

But in his mind Po was only second-guessing himself.

The rest of the night was the same as always: tofu cake for dessert, a game of checkers, filling out last minutes papers for the next day, blah blah blah the whole yadayada! After everyone was done in the kitchen, Po and the rest of the Furious Five trailed off to their rooms. Po had a strangely difficult time falling asleep. There were so many things on his mind. Well, that and the fact that Crane had warned him not to eat so much cake. He should have listened to his avian friend. Finally after it had seemed like hours of tossing and turning, the panda started to drift off to sleep. But what he thought might be a good slumber, turned out to be the worst nightmare ever.

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**Wow! This is getting spooky…**

**Okay, there you have it! The third chapter of The Mysterious Master Croc! Please read and review! And if you can, I would like if you could tell me if there is a part that made you laugh or liked the best! I'm always pestering my family and friends to tell me what they liked the best. And all you guys are Kung Fu Panda lovers just like me! So it would be great to know which parts YOU liked.**

**Catch you later!**


	4. Dream Or Vision?

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back with the next chapter for The Mysterious Master Croc! Thanks so much to all of you who have reviewed! You put a smile on my face every time you review! Keep it up!**

**Sorry about the late update! I know you guys are on the edge of your seats! Usually, my free days to write are Saturday and Sunday. But, this last weekend was hectic. The next weeks will be VERY busy for me, so I might just be updating once a week. So hang in there guys… **

**I also made my first one-shot song-fic! It is called Everything Is Changed. The song is by Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran! So I suggest that all Taylor and Ed fans head on over to that story to read some Po x Tigress!**

**So, I thought that since tomorrow is Halloween, I'd thought I'd get my spookiest chapter in the story posted! Please read and review! Enjoy!**

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_Chapter four: The Dream_

Dreams…as I explained before, are an illusion of the mind. Sometimes dreams come to use when we are longing for something. Longing for comfort, excitement, or answers. Nightmares on the other hand, are not so pleasant. They come when something is bothering us…

As Po slowly fell asleep, colors swirled around in his mind forming his dream. The colors that filled his head were a mix of yellow, black, lime-green, and seaweed green. Scenes of flashbacks entered his mind.

_The first flashback was a memorable day that no one would forget. It was the fateful spring day when Po was chosen Dragon Warrior. Po sat outside on the jade Palace 1000 steps. He jumped to his feet when he heard:_

"_And now," a red panda shouted. "May I present to you, Master Tigress!" _

_He had to get there, had to see Master Tigress. Then he spotted it, his way to see his favorite Kung Fu Master._

_Suddenly, a rickety, old, chair was hovering over the entrance to the Jade Palace ceremonial grounds. 'I love Kung Fuuuuuuu!" he heard himself say. Then as he landed on his head, everything blacked out and the scene changed._

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"_Ouch, hee, ha, ha!" he shouted as he rambled around his first time on a 'Level Zero' training course._

_Why did the flashback have to go to this? He finished the course with highly un-awesome embarrassment_

"_How'd I do?" he asked helplessly. He braced for the worst._

_But the old aged red panda simply smiled. "There is now a 'Level Zero'." Shifu chuckled._

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_Po stood in front of the real, renowned, evil snow leopard, known as Tai-Lung. But Po did not tremble with fear. He had something this villain didn't have, the Dragon Scroll._

"_What are you gonna do big guy? Sit on me?" Tai-Lung smirked._

_Po stood up from panting. "Ha Ha, don't tempt me."_

_Then the big fight began. The snow leopard had no chance against someone who had realized that you don't need a special object to have unbelievable power; you just have to believe in yourself._

"_Shadoosh." The panda said. And with that, he flexed his pinkie and Tai-Lung disappeared into an aluminous glow of yellowish gold. He smiled with pride and accomplishment. Then everything changed from victory to worry._

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"_Let me tell you the truth," the peacock rubbed his long skinny neck. "Your parents didn't love you. But here, let he heal you!" He stepped back to reveal a gigantic cannon!_

_Po could hear his heart pounding. No, this wasn't true!_

Okay, I have to pause the story here. Can't you hear the music from the movie going on here? It's really cool! Music can capture emotions, so I can hear the music going on through Po's worry. Okay then, back to the story. Where were we? Oh, yeah!

_Po could hear his heart pounding. No, this wasn't true_

_It was in the past, his parents did love him. They died for him! Po knew what was coming next, he braced for the impact of the huge fireball. Then he heard something as he was blasted away._

"_Noooooooo!" a strangely, familiar, female voice shouted out desperately._

_Before the flashback ended, Po thought one, single word._

_Tigress?_

_Then believe it or not, everything got worse. _

* * *

_Po was standing next to Master Croc as he and the Five were saying final goodbyes._

_Master Croc gestured to him. Something wasn't right. The way he gestured was as if he was luring him. Po made a confused look and went over to see what Croc wanted._

"_Did you need me sir?" the panda asked._

"_You're on the right path son," The look in Croc's eyes didn't change to sadness as it had before. They turned red, blazing with evil. His voice usual happy, upbeat, French accent turned into hoarse and sinister voice. "Do a favor for me and join me on the right path."_

"_What!" Po screamed. _

_But, before the Furious Five, Shifu, or Po could react; Croc disappeared, taking the panda with him._

* * *

_Po found himself swirling into darkness. What was happening? He wanted out. What was Croc, or should he say crook, doing to him? Where was he taking him? Probably to some evil, smelly, lair that crocodiles hang out at. He was getting a headache from all the swirling, twisting, circling, all with the wonderful backround music of hearing cackling laughter. _

_Then it all stopped. He strained his ears. Silence. No more cackling, no more shrieking wind, no more dizziness. He opened his eyes._

* * *

_Darkness surrounded him._

_He closed his eyes again and waited for the worst to come. After what seemed like hours, he opened his eyes again. To his surprise he was not in his room or the pitch-black darkness. He was in a dimly lit, cozy, little room. Well, it really didn't like or smell like it was a place where evil crocodile crooks hung out. It seemed like it was a safe house. Po got to his paws and knees and started to crawl on the floor._

"_Yeah," he thought. "Stealth Mode…"_

_Uh, huh. Stealth Mode. We all know where this is going to end up, right readers?_

_Po crawled and crawled until his knees hurt. There was nothing to be seen! There wasn't even a crumb on the spotless floor. He stopped when he heard voices. Po crawled back a few feet and hid behind a column. _

_Exactly ten yards ahead of him were nothing but dark silhouettes. In the area, there seemed to be an extremely gaudy-looking throne with a tall, elegant, slender-necked figure in the throne. Next to the mysterious figure was another figure. This one was short and stout. Anger rose into Po's emotions as he realized that the first figure sitting in the wacky-looking throne was none other than the same peacock he had seen in his last few awful un-awesome flashback –dream-things. _

_Lord Shen. _

_Po really couldn't tell who was next to Shen. It could be he peacock's henchman, the wolf boss. The second figure really did look like the wolf that had punched him the gut twice, except he seemed to has a longer tail._

_No one had noticed Po. Ha ha, I guess all us readers were wrong about the stealth mode…_

_The peacock lifted his head and spoke to the unknown figure in the backround. "Have you done what I have asked?" he demanded coldly._

"_Yes, Lord Shen. You may come to the city in six days time." The may-be-the-wolf boss-figure replied._

"_Good." Shen said stiffly. "You know what the protocol is correct?" he asked._

_The second figure hesitated, as if remembering some kind of rules. "Yes, I will pretend to be surprised when you arrive and we will spar until what we want done is done."_

'_Sparring?' Po thought. 'When did the wolf boss and Shen spar? Huh. I must have missed seeing that…' _

"_Yes," Shen smiled. "Yes, very good. _

_The wolf boss-figure-dude winced. "You're not going to hurt me when we fight, right?"_

'_Ooh,' Po winced also. 'Poor wolf boss guy, he doesn't know what's coming. He does get hurt.'_

_The evil lord threw his head back and laughed. "Oh no, of course not! I wouldn't want my spy to die, would I?"_

_The figure nodded as joined in Shen's laughter. "Yes, I guess you wouldn't…"_

'_Shen is a good liar.' The panda noticed._

_Shen stroked his beak. "Well, unless you reveal or intervene with any sort of information. You might as well say good-bye to your head!"_

_The wolf boss figure stopped laughing. "Yes my Lord, of course…"_

_Awkward…_

_Shen cleared his throat. "There will be news sent to the warriors of The Valley Of Peace about Master Thundering Rhino's 'tragic death'. Correct?"_

"_Yes, Lord Shen." The mysterious wolf boss-figure-spy-guy stepped directly into the light. "The message has already been carefully thought through."_

_The figure was NOT the wolf boss as Po had suspected. Instead, it was none other then the **Ferocious Master Croc.**_

_The terror and the surprise were all too much for Po to hold in. He gasped loudly. Loudly enough for the two people ten yards ahead of him to stare directly at him. _

"_How did he get here?" Shen demanded. _

_Croc laughed. "I lead him here myself!"_

"_Well," Shen started. "WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR? GET HIM! GET THEM ALL!"_

"_Take it easy!" Croc back talked. "I already got his favorite! That way, he will show his weakness."_

'_Huh?' Po thought. 'Favorite? What does mean by- oh no, no, no, no, no!'_

_Croc's own thoughts entered Po's brain. "Yep, you got that right dumpling boy, your favorite!"_

_There was no use to be quiet anymore. Shen and Croc had seen him. So Po opened his mouth shakily and tried to reply._

"_W-w-w-what do you m-m-m-mean by t-t-that?" he stammered._

_Croc simply winked at the shivering panda and stepped back to reveal Tigress. She looked the same why she had when Po had tried to rescue her and the Five from Lord Shen's grasp. But this time, she looked different._

_The feline was tied up against a pole with two chains holding her up by her arms as she was before. But this time around, her mouth was sealed with a gag; she had gigantic chains also attached to her legs followed by two huge metal balls. And her face, her beautiful face, was bruised and cut. Two of Shen's 'real' wolf minions each had a cannon pointed at her head. She squirmed; her eyes with a look Po barely ever saw…FEAR. He didn't know if the terror she had in her facial expression was for her or him._

Okay, I'm sorry. I have to stop this again. All of you guys are probably covering your mouths and gasping yourselves! But my brother is in the corner laughing his head off. When I originally came up with this part, he helped me. But, this time around, I added more detail. I think he really likes it…

_That's what Croc had meant. Croc both knew he would do ANYTHING for his friends. That even meant dieing for them. But before the panda could react, Tigress somehow got the piece of fabric tied tightly around her mouth off._

"_RUN, PO!" she screamed. She looked at him with sympathy, secretly telling him that she would do the same pact of loyalty for him. She would die for him. But unfortunately, she was too late._

_As Po began to run, Tigress saw that Croc caught up with her best friend. The last the panda remembered was Croc's yellow eyes and the dreadful sound of cannon's going off. _

* * *

**ON MY GOSH! Totally wasn't expecting that to happen! Poor Tigress… but it's just a dream, so there's nothing to worry about. Or is there? **

**And yes, my brother did laugh when I wrote this. He was happy I used his ideas.**

**Again, to those of you who haven't, please check out my newest one-shot song-fic and tell me what you think. I will be making my own one-shot collection after a few stories are done. So it would be very good to get some feedback.**

**Please review! It always makes me smile! Just put yourself my shoes! If you were scrambling to write this chapter for Halloween and have stayed up until 11:03, wouldn't you want a review?**

**You can even say it in a spooky voice like this! [ (spooky voice) Good job on this chapter! Happy Halloween! ] **

**You can even copy and paste that if you want to! Hey, it's Halloween! You can do anything with a spooky voice! As long as it's not mean… **

**Catch you later!**


	5. Sleeplessness and Scares

**Hi everyone! I'm back! Sorry about this late update. Things are starting to settle down now. But of course, I might still be slow with updating with the holidays coming. Hope you had a nice Halloween and got lots of candy! I had lots of fun going as Tigress!**

**Please and review, it means so much to me. Enjoy the chapter! Sorry its kinda short…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda, I really wish I did though…**

* * *

_Chapter five: Sleeplessness and Scares_

Darkness.

That was all Po could see and think of. The Darkness. That's what this nightmare or dream or vision or some ultimate reality was made of…darkness. The forever continuing booms and hysterical laughing was echoing through the panda's ears. He wished it would stop. He wanted nothing more than to take off this blindfold of never-ending darkness, go save Tigress, and punch evil Master Croc in the face. But that wasn't going to happen, something-or someone, was keeping him from moving. So, he cried out with all his might, hoping that someone would save him. Little did he know that his savior um, _saviors_ were very close by…

* * *

_Creak!_

There, in the moonlight of the student barracks stood a tall, elegant, figure. Her yellowish-gold eyes glowed bright in the moonlight. Many that saw her would usually cower in fear, they would say that she was a monster. But no, readers, this isn't a monster. It's just the most fearless, hardcore, kung fu master in the world, Tigress.

She tried to pry her squeaky, old, door open as quietly as she could, but the rackety screen door still made noise.

Now, you're probably wondering what Tigress is doing up. Well, she is a cat, and cats _are_ nocturnal, so really you should be wondering what she's doing up in the morning! But anyway, Tigress had woken up to find her head pounding. She had thought that the herbal tea Viper had made for them hours before would cure the awful headache. But instead, it had returned with vengeance.

At first, she had tried to make herself go back to her slumber; she would need rest for the big day tomorrow. But the pounding kept going on and on until the feline couldn't stand it anymore (That's saying something since this is Tigress we're talking about!). She had made her way to the kitchen for a drink of water. But unfortunately the ice-cold drink didn't work. So here she was, standing in her bedroom doorframe trying to avoid making noise in the house.

_Squeak!_

She frowned, no luck. She would have to live with a creaky door. The feline decided to tell Zeng about it in the morning…

She stumbled to her bed and sighed with relief. The mattress was extremely comfortable. She looked through her window at the shining stars and the crescent moon. It there wouldn't be daylight for hours. She would have to try to go back to sleep. She closed her eyes and concentrated, daring herself not to open her eyes even though her head was still annoying her. After 20 minutes, of tossing and turning, her head won the battle.

Grr. She opened her eyes and pounded her bed-roll-pillow (not too hard though, she didn't want to break it…). "_Go away, you stupid headache!"_ she screamed in her head.

Nope, screaming inside your head definitely doesn't work…

Tigress grunted with anger and sat up and stared at the wall. Either she was trying to work on her focus, thoughts, or inner peace because she definitely was thinking about something. It could've been about the previous week, training, the next day, or her feelings. But I really don't know what she was thinking about. Well, I might know, but Tigress would probably kill me if I told you. So let's just respect her and not pry. But I'll tell you this… she was thinking about something or someone. This something or someone is a part of her deep, dark, and spooky (let's not forget about spooky! Well, maybe it's not spooky…) secret. Maybe we'll find out about it one day. You never know readers, you never know…

After 'thinking' Tigress needed to do something to get her mind off her head. The tiger stood up, slowly made her way to the lantern, and turned it on. She groaned softly as she heard the 'click' the glowing object made. She had to admit, even after a week, her body was still very sore. She looked down at the floor and sat down to stretch her stiff limbs. She spread her legs wide, as if attempting to do the splits. She went as far as she could go and then put her hands on the wooden floor.

_1_

_2_

_3_ She counted.

_4_

_5_

_6_

All the way up to…

_28_

_29_

_30._

Then she lifted her arms up and stretched to the right. 30 seconds later she did the other side. Once that was done she went back to the middle and stretched farther than she did the last time. This time she had her elbows on the floor. She continued to do the same routine until she her face touched the floor. Other techniques went on, the nose-to-your-toes butterfly stretch, the 10 toes stretch, Korean splits, Chinese splits, the list goes on and on. She finished all of this in exactly 47 minutes and 42 seconds. Pretty fast, huh?

Minutes later, she realized she was no longer tired. In fact, she was wide-awake! She walked over to her scroll cabinet and picked up the scroll listing the class management skills. She was to memorize all the rules and have her own answer for the tricky questions in the next morning. She opened up the ancient-looking object and began to read.

Her ear twitched.

"Tigress…"

She looked up from her scroll and listened. There was nothing but silence. Hmm. She could have sworn that someone said her name. Oh well, she had been hearing things like that for a while. She must have been concentrating too hard. She turned her head back to her work. She thought she heard her name being called several times. But it must have been in her mind because the voice sounded like a whisper. She shrugged and continued to read.

"_Tigress."_

Grr. It must be her head or the wind or something.

She read until she was halfway through management skill 106 when she started to yawn. Maybe she could fall asleep now. She began to roll the scroll up when she heard it:

"Tigress!"

She gasped as the scroll fell out of her grasp and crashed to the floor. For the scream was so terrifying it made her fur stand on end.

This wasn't the wind or her head, someone was screaming. And that someone was screaming for her.

"No!" it said. The petrifying screams got louder and louder until Tigress' sensitive ears were ringing. Then the screams went from 'No!' to 'Tigress!'. Chills went down Tigress' spine the moment the voice screamed her simple name.

Suddenly the tiger had a flashback. The same exact voice had screamed for her last week as she pushed the owner of the way of a cannonball of death.

Po.

Po was screaming for her. He needed help.

"Tigress!" the screams echoed. "Don't die. No!" And then that was that. Her name was no longer screamed.

The rest of the shouts were:

""Help! Help her! Help me!" and "NO!"

Then Tigress suddenly realized that she hadn't done anything. That was very unlikely of her. She was just standing right next to her bed, paralyzed. She was being encased with shock.

Her ear twitched yet again as she heard rustling from the other room (I'm surprised she could hear anything with all this screaming going on!). She saw the silhouettes of the rest of the Furious Five coming towards her bedroom. Her door opened and a thin green snake poked her head in the doorway.

"Tigress?" she asked. "Are you awake?"

"Yes," the feline answered. "I'm up."

Viper watched as her comrade slowly got up. "Oh, no." she interrupted. "It's okay Tigress, Po's just have a nightmare. You can go back to bed."

Tigress nodded; apparently the Five hadn't heard Po's first shouts. Normally a comment like the one Viper had just said would make her angry. Viper had just implied that she was too weak and sore to wake someone up from a simple nightmare. Well, this didn't really seem like a simple bad dream. But for some reason, Tigress was fine with going back to bed. The Five could handle. She was sore, and strangely, she didn't want to see Po. Some had happened as he screamed her name minutes ago. She needed some time to think. Mind-blowing memories had entered her brain as her best friend called her name several minutes ago, the memories of her past and secrets. Some kind of realization had gone into her.

But I won't tell you because she would tear me into bits. She wants to wait a few chapters before telling you…

So as Tigress laid down her head on her soft bed-roll, she could hear the Five, scrambling to wake Po up.

* * *

**Wow! Doesn't everything seem to get more mysterious by the second? And you guys can guess about what Tigress was thinking about, but I won't tell you! You can take your guess though… **

**Please review! It ALWAYS makes my day! You guys have been so awesome with reviewing! Note: YOU WILL MAKE MY DAY IF YOU REVIEW! YOU ARE DOING A GOOD DEED BY REVIEWING! I could DO accept critical reviews too! I want to make myself a better writer!**


	6. 10 Ways How NOT to Wake Up Giant Pandas

**Hi everyone! I'm back with the next chapter! Sorry about the late update. Things have been busy. I have a lot of new things to tell you.**

**I would like to let you know that I am doubling with TigerNinja16 for her incredibly, awesome, story Maya's Troubling Journey. I think it's even more mysterious than this story! You can find TigerNinja16 and her story on my favorite author and stories page on my profile! Please check it out!'**

**I also have created a poll to see what story I should write next! The story will not be posted until this story is done, so you guys have a while to vote! Please check out the poll. You can find it on my profile page.**

**Please read and review! It means so much to me! You guys are just awesome! I mean, 71 reviews! That's more than I can ask for! Thank you so much!**

**And now, the 6th chapter of The Mysterious Master Croc!**

* * *

_Chapter Six: Ten Ways on How __**Not**__ to Wake Up Giant Pandas _

In the Valley of Peace, everything should be peaceful, right? Well, you could say that it was peaceful and quiet most of the time, but sixty percent of the time it wasn't. Tonight was one of those nights. But at first, the moon was big and bright, the town below the Jade Palace was as quiet as a mouse, the warriors of the Palace itself was enjoying the gentleness of the night, and the breeze outside of everyone's little houses was very calming. But that was what the Valley of Peace was like on this graceful evening before chaos started…

At the sound of a shout the world-known Furious Five woke with a jolt from their pleasant slumber. Something was wrong. There must be bandits, robbers, an evil villain or something that made someone scream like this! A green tree snake, black-necked crane, golden snub-nosed primate, and a praying mantis quickly rose from their cots and hurried into the hallway.

"What's going on?" Monkey questioned wearily.

Crane, who at the time did not have his lucky farmer's hat on, gave Monkey a look "No idea!" he said sarcastically. "Maybe there's some kind of robbery going on!"

"Oh man!" Mantis groaned. "I didn't want to get up this early again!"

"Well you should have looked at all the all the parts of the package before you signed up to be a Kung Fu Warrior!" Monkey scowled, but he couldn't hold it for too long, because a smile began to emerge on his jaw.

"Enough joking, _boys."_ Viper interrupted. "Let's find out what our problem is. Tigress, what's the plan…" the serpent asked.

No one answered.

Viper looked around, Tigress was nowhere in sight. "Where is she?" she wondered out loud.

"Tigress!" Mantis called. "Where are you?"

Suddenly, without notice, the four warriors heard a groan coming from Tigress' room.

Monkey made a face. "She still in her room?! She usually wakes _us_ up!"

Viper pressed her lips together. "I'll go get her." And with that, the snake slithered down the hallway and into Tigress' dormitory.

Crane picked up his leg and scratched his chest feathers. "Man, have you guys noticed anything up with Tigress? She's been acting kind of strange."

Monkey nodded. "Yeah, she has been acting…different. First she doesn't talk at the dinner table, we get her to spill her fact about Master Croc, which wasn't even a big deal, well, not to us, then she still sleeping when there is a supposedly big robbery going on." The primate agreed.

"Speaking of which," Mantis added. "What are we doing!? Where are Viper, Tigress, and Po? Shouldn't they all be here by now?" the insect demanded.

As if on cue, Viper appeared back in the hallway next to her comrades. "Alright, let's go get Po." She ordered.

Mantis narrowed his little eyebrows. "But wait," he said. "Where's Tigress?"

But before Viper could reply, the four comrades noticed that the closer they got to Po's room, the louder the shouting from the supposed villager got. The gang (or what was left of the gang) gave each other a look and burst into Po's room. What they saw was so unexpected. It was worse than any bandit or villain they had ever seen.

The culprit of the screams that had awoken them from their slumber was Po himself.

"Great!" Mantis complained. "I had to wake up to wake my buddy up from a nightmare! Fantastic!"

"What?!" the others exclaimed. They couldn't hear what the insect had just said because the Dragon Warriors shouts were so overwhelming they could barely hear each other talk.

Mantis gave everyone a look and repeated what he had said with a very loud voice that no one knew he had in him.

"Oh!" they screamed back. "Yeah, this is awful!" they agreed.

"What should we do!?" Monkey yelled.

"I know!" Crane cawed. "We need to get a scroll on how to wake giant pandas up!"

Everyone looked at him. Seriously, that's the best the avian could think of?

"Don't be ridiculous," Monkey said. "Just start smacking him!"

"No, don't hit him!" Viper screamed just in time. "Mantis, nerve pinch him!"

Mantis did just that, but nothing happened. Yeah, I think they should have listened to Crane. They needed to find a way to wake up their companion. But instead of getting a scroll and following the instruction on how to wake Po up, the Furious Five, um, Four did the total opposite on how to wake a person up from a nightmare. Behold:

**10 Ways on How **_**Not**_** to wake up Giant Pandas by Viper, Crane, Monkey, and Mantis.**

**1) Do not nerve pinch the victim.**

The Furious Four looked at each other in shock. "Why didn't it work!?" Viper shouted at Mantis. "It always works!"

"Calm down Viper!" Mantis screamed back. "I'll just try it again!" he said.

The tired praying mantis tried his signature move again. Nothing happened except the nerve pinch made Po's shouts become more intense.

**2) Do not bang ceremonial gongs in front of the victim's face.**

After Mantis' attempt to wake up the panda, Monkey suddenly spoke up.

"I've got an idea." The primate screeched and as quick as a flash, he ran out of the room.

"What's he doing!?" Crane yelled.

"No idea," Mantis shouted. "Maybe he went to get some of his cookies!" he joked.

"This is not the time to tease Mantis!" Viper scolded. "There's something wrong with Po!"

Luckily, Monkey returned seconds later with the ceremonial gong they used for special occasions and banged it loudly for minutes.

Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong! On and on and on!

Finally, Monkey stopped having fun with the instrument when he noticed that it wasn't doing anything. Luckily, the results of making the loud noise hadn't harmed the panda in any way. That was, until Crane walked in.

**3) Do not pour liquid of any kind on the victim.**

Master Crane, the slender bird warrior had a bucket of water in his beak. He hastily dumped it on the terrorized Po. Now, nerve pinching and bang a gong in front of Po's face was one thing, but dumping a gallon or two of water is another thing.

**Warning note for step number three: This is one of the worst things to do to a giant panda that is having a nightmare.**

Oops.

Now the poor, lovable, cuddly, panda was soaked and hyperventilating.

"Leave, ah, her, ah, alone!" Po screamed.

The others exchanged looks. "Who's 'her'?" Mantis asked.

Who was 'her'? Who would Po be screaming about? Nobody knew.

Monkey waved his hand. "It's probably some victim." The primate screeched.

**4) Do not slap the victim.**

Crane looked at the Dragon Warrior. Something was terribly wrong. The avian took one last look at his buddy, wound up his arm, and slapped Po with all his might. And of course, nothing happened. "He won't wake up!" the black-crested crane screamed.

**Warning note for step number four: Slapping victim may cause concussions.**

"Wow, he's having some nightmare!" Mantis commented.

"We have to do something!" Viper panicked. "He's going to pass out!"

"Good, then we can go back to bed." Monkey joked. He jumped when received a hiss from the female snake.

**5) Do not scream in the victim's ears.**

Mantis hopped onto Po's bed, went to the panda's ear, and shouted louder then Po was shouting: "WAKE UP PO!"

Five minutes later.

"WAKE UP! PLEASE JUST WAKE UP!" the insect yelled.

"That's not going to work Mantis." Viper groaned. "Let's try something else."

**6) Do not lure the victim with food.**

After several seconds, Monkey emerged from the kitchen to Po's room with an object in his hand. "Oh Po! I have some cookies for you!" Monkey waved his treasured almond cookies under the panda's nose.

Po screamed and inhaled the cookies at the same time! He began to choke on the delightful dessert.

"Oh no!" Monkey screamed. "He's choking!"

Viper hesitantly made an 'ew' face as she quickly stuck her tail down the panda's throat and whipped the cookie out of his mouth.

"Ew! Ew! Ew!" She screeched. "That's gross!"

"Do you need a tissue Viper" Crane asked.

"Yes, don't you think I need one!" She yelled. "You know what? I'm out of this! You guys figure out how to wake him up!"

"Sure Viper!" Mantis said. "We can handle it."

"I doubt it…" Viper muttered. No one heard her.

**7) Do not pretend to be a robber.**

Crane put on his most evil sounding voice and said. "My minions, let's steal of this panda's money and spend it on paint for my calligraphy." The avian sneered.

Okay, that's just plain strange.

"That's the best you got?" Mantis questioned.

Crane shrugged. "Let's take his money!" He reached over for Po's coin jar. But before he could even graze his feathers over the jar, Po did a front kick in his sleep. But thankfully, Crane saw the kick coming and blocked it.

"That is not going to work boys." Viper said while shaking her head.

The four of them must have been in there for at least two hours. Will Po ever wake up?!

**8) Do not tickle the victim's nose with a feather.**

"I know!" Mantis exclaimed. "We tickle his nose and then he'll sneeze! Here Crane, give me one of your feathers."

"What!" the avian shouted surprisingly. "I'm not giving you my feathers!"

But quick as the speed of light, Mantis managed to get a pincher-full of feathers.

"Owww!" Crane screamed.

"Oh, stop a baby!" Monkey cried.

"It hurts!" Crane yelped.

"Come on guys." Viper said. "Let's tickle Po."

"I thought you didn't want to help wake him up!" Mantis complained.

"Well, I've always wanted to try to tickle someone's nose with a feather!" Viper replied.

Tickling didn't work. It was fun though. Po giggles in his sleep…

**9) Do not roll the victim off his bed.**

"Push him off!" Monkey cried. "Push! Push! Push!"

"Okay guys, on three." Viper ordered. "One, two, three!"

With a groan the four of them managed to roll Po of his bed. Po fell out of the bed in a hump and made a hole in the flooring.

"Ahh!" Mantis shouted. "This is bad, this is bad!"

That was it. There was only one more thing left to do.

**10) Do not panic.**

The room went into even more chaos. Besides Po screaming about helping 'her', the other four warriors started doing the worst thing you can do in any situation: Panic.

There were lots of declarations:

"We're gonna die!"

"The world is over!"

"Master Shifu is going to kill us!"

"We have to do something before Po's nightmare becomes our reality!"

"It already is! Ahh!"

Then everyone did absolutely crazy things that will not be said for the sake of the characters. They went completely wacko until the four of them heard a very irritated, gruff voice.

"What is the meaning of this?" They gasped and slowly turned around.

Master Shifu, the grandmaster of the Jade Palace, master of Red Panda style, and legend of Kung Fu, stood scowling in the doorway.

"Master Shifu!" Viper cried. "It's Po! He's having a nightmare and he won't wake up!"

"I see..." the old aged red panda cleared his throat. "PANDA!"

Immediately Po's jade green eyes opened, releasing him from the terrible nightmare he was having. He screamed one final time. "Master Shifu!? Help!" That's what Po had hated being called when he first came to the palace. It still gave him chills when someone said his name like that. He sat up, looked around and wondered what happened to his room.

So there you have your answer. If you ever have to wake up a giant panda that is having nightmares, do not do what the others did. Instead, follow the real instructions they should have gotten in the first place.

**Call Master Shifu for help and have him yell the panda's name.**

Master Shifu and the Five could tell he was very disorientated. They also sensed that something was wrong, very wrong. After a few moments the panda spoke. "Master Rhino he's..."

"He's dead Po." Shifu said tartly. Shifu hated remembering the awful day he received the news of another Kung Fu legend dead.

Po whimpered. "I know but..."

"But what?!" Shifu snapped back.

Po closed his eyes. "Croc helped kill him."

"What?!" the others exclaimed.

Po sighed and reluctantly told them his dream. He remembered every single detail except the parts about Tigress.

Crane put his wing around Po and tried to comfort him. "Po, that never happened. You're still shocked from last night. Your mind's playing tricks on you."

"But it seemed so real..." Po stammered.

"Po listen, you're very distressed right now. You need to vent. Go somewhere peaceful." Shifu ordered.

"Yes Master Shifu." Po obeyed. He left the room.

So as the others got scolded for making such a huge mess, Po tried to find a place to think. What he didn't know was that a very concerned feline was following him.

* * *

**There it is! This chapter was a bit more for laughs. Tell me what you thought of it.**

**Again, please check out my poll and Maya's Troubling Journey by TigerNinja16 and me!**

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**Catch you later!**


	7. Could it Be?

**Hey guys! I'm back! I'm SO sorry about this late update. It would have been up last week, but then I got sick. It was bad! I threw up 11 times within 5 hours! I'm SO glad I'm better now. So to make up for the three-week absence, I have a 4,200-word chapter to give to you guys! Yay! Longest chapter yet!**

**Then, as for my poll, none of you guys voted? *sad face* Please vote…polls are fun!**

**Okay then, here is the 7th chapter of The Mysterious Master Croc! I really need reviews on this one. You'll see why at the end.**

**Please read and review! Enjoy!**

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_Chapter Seven: Could it Be?_

As we all know from the previous chapters, Po the panda has a huge problem. Master Croc, his hero; used to be a bandit. Finding that out was awful, but not as awful as having that gut-wrenching nightmare Po had just been awoken from. Nothing was helping Po's troubles, if he closed his eyes; the panda only saw Master Croc's bloodshot yellow eyes and his best friend Tigress with death inside of her.

He tried to find a place to calm himself down as Master Shifu had ordered, but he couldn't think of any perfect spot. Well, his room was out of the question, when the panda had been awoken from his terrible dream, he soon found the floors were covered with feathers and water. What had the Five done to his bedroom? He could have sworn that he heard Master Shifu scolding them as he left the room. Hopefully no one had touched his action figures…

The kitchen was too close for comfort, food no longer helped solve Po's problems…

He didn't dare go into the training hall; it was a wee bit too dangerous, Po didn't want to break anything in the progress while stumbling in the dark.

The endangered giant panda (hehe, emphasis on the endangered part) then stopped in front of the iron wood tree forest and sighed, where could he go? Definitely not here, this forest reminded him too much of-

_**SNAP!**_

He jumped, what was that? He quickly glanced up, down, left, and right taking in a full look of his surroundings and mentally and physically braced himself for something awful, terrible, smelly, and evil- let's not forget evil- to magically appear out of the cool air right outside the wickedly looking forest…but alas, nothing awful, terrible, smelly, or evil appeared in the atmosphere outside of the trees.

Sorry to interrupt here, but wouldn't you think that would happen? I mean, it's nighttime and Po is right next to a spooky looking forest! Okay, I'll stop talking now…

Thump, thump, thump! Po's heart was beating so loudly! Probably everyone in the whole entire universe could hear the panda's adrenaline running. But, the spooky looking forest that Tigress used to train in was silent, as if taunting him. Nothing seemed to move except the peaceful wind. After a few minutes of holding his fierce attack position, the panda decided that he was just getting too ahead of himself and was imaging things…

But a few yards away, there was, in fact, a figure that went unnoticed: Master Tigress.

The critically-endangered South Chinese tiger (more emphasis on the endangered part…) had decided to secretly follow Po when she realized something had seemed very wrong a couple of hours ago when Po was having his monumental nightmare. She silently scolded herself, maybe if she hadn't cracked under pressure the night before and told her comrades about Master Croc's past, none of this chaos would have happened! She needed to find a time to help her best friend understand that what she told him and the Five last night was no big deal at all and he had nothing to worry about. She figured that the right time was now; once Po found a place to help his thoughts flow right.

So, when she made sure that Master Shifu was done scolding the Furious Four about the irritating racket and mess that they had made, the tiger surreptitiously snuck out of her dormitory and followed the sound of Po's heavy footsteps out of the student barracks. She followed Po around almost the whole entire Jade Palace! He just couldn't find a place to meditate could he?

Tigress followed him silently with such ease, stepping over every leaf, branch, and bush so gracefully, she thought that she would _never _get noticed. It wasn't until a few seconds ago when she was sneaking around Po at the iron tree forest that her sly manner was put to the test. The Kung Fu cat-fighter grimaced as she accidentally stepped on a twig, startling Po and crushing the wood in the process. Tigress' eyes widened and she quickly jumped behind a very large iron wood tree and held her breath.

The tiger didn't want him to see her, at least, not yet; she wanted to wait until he was settled at a peaceful spot to confront him. She gave a short sigh of relief when she saw Po stand up from his intense sparring stance and continued walking; that had been a close one. She chuckled inside; her 'stealth mode' would_ always_ be better than Po's though…

Po hurried away from the iron wood forest, the farther he got away from that place, the better. As he was thinking before he got interrupted by his 'imagination', the place reminded him too much of Tigress. She used to train there for 20 years until she felt nothing left in her paws. 20 years! That place was like a sacred temple to Po, one of his heroes trained there for 20 years! But after this gut-wrenching dream he had just had, the forest felt… eerie. He had just experienced seeing Tigress this close to death's doors, yeah, yeah, it was in a dream, but it just seemed so…real. Horrifying, that's how you could describe it, horrifying…

The panda trudged along the border of the Jade Palace until he suddenly stopped when he was outside the courthouse gates. Po tilted his head ever so slightly towards the twinkling stars in the moonlight and saw a tiny, little, peach petal drifting aimlessly through the air, fluttering towards the hard ground. As small as that petal was, Po caught it in his grasp and pored his jade-green eyes into the center of the blossom it as if it had the key to his problems. And in fact, that tiny, beautiful, little petal did have the answers, well, one of them at least.

Po gave a contented sigh and smiled as he closed his paw around the delicate leaflet. The panda then chuckled and looked up at his newly found destination: The Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom.

The tiny star constellations in the sky gleamed in the darkness as Po the panda climbed uphill to the place he absolutely knew would help clear his thoughts. He staggered to the top and sat down underneath the beautiful peach blossom tree. He remembered the first time he had come here; Master Oogway had been around then. It was the time when Po had been first selected as the warrior to solve the valley's problems. Po had a hard time finding his place here at the palace then. But with Master Oogway's wisdom, Po had learned to take one day at a time and enjoy the process too…

"_You are too concerned with what was and what will be._

_There's a saying:_

_Yesterday is history._

_Tomorrow is a mystery._

_But today is a gift._

_That is why it is called the present._"

Po hadn't really gotten to know the elderly tortoise so much, but he still deeply respected him even though the wise master was gone.

The giant panda smiled as he remembered that fateful fall day when he had been caught eating the tree's delicious peaches. What a great day. Po's smile faded as his current situation came back to the present. He had enjoyed his little vacation to memory land though…

Po sat up and put his back up against the tree. He didn't know what to think. The terrible dream had felt so real, and if he dare say, so painful. The dream on the boat to Gongmen City had been _nothing_ compared to this dream. That nightmare had no proof or facts at all. But this nightmare did have facts. Master Croc had been a bandit. Lord Shen had killed Master Flying Rhino. How on earth did Shen get past security? He would _have _to have some kind of spy to get him into the Gongmen City Palace, The Tower of Sacred Flame, somehow! So why not Master Croc, huh?

The panda let out a huge sigh and hugged his knees. He _knew_ the dream wouldn't have been as scary if Tigress hadn't been involved in it, well, maybe not, but yes, it wouldn't have been as scary...

Then, out of the blue, his temperature rose and anger boiled inside him. Oh, he was such a coward! Why hadn't he done anything to help his friend!? Why?! Tigress had risked _her life_ for him last week and he didn't even think about her in a _dream_. Her life for him! She would rather die than have him killed.

Finally, he couldn't keep quiet anymore. He needed to vent his anger out. Po stood up quick as lightning and shouted. "Why!"

Tigress was such an unbelievablely loyal friend. She was his best friend. But why on earth had he been such a statue in this dream when she was getting a canon pointed at her head! Dream or not, he hadn't helped!

He screamed again, "Why!" he winced, uh, hopefully nobody heard that…idiot. The panda thumped on the solid ground and sat back down against the tree.

What kind of friend, warrior, and teammate was he? A wave of emotion swept over the panda as his anger turned into worry. He felt like she really was k-k-killed…his vision unexpectedly became blurry. She wasn't even in the room with the rest of the Furious Five when Master Shifu had woken him up…

His voice wavered a bit as he shook out the one word he kept asking himself. "Why?" he whispered.

But he shook the sad feeling away and held his face in his paws. No, no, she was fine, not…_dead_. She was probably in her bedroom, trying to get back to sleep. He wished that he could go see he was right about that, but he knew that if he just put his toe in her room he'd probably get clawed to pieces. 'She's sleeping in her room, she's fine, not…dead.' He assured himself.

Po looked around the little cliff he was sharing with the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. He knew that Tigress tried to hide it but he knew she had been in pain the last few days. It was the way she acted, she liked to pretend to be fine with everything. She always liked to say 'Po, I'm a Kung Fu Master, I can handle a insert your choice of activity Shifu had them do in this blank.' He could just tell she wasn't feeling the best. Maybe it was because they trained a lot together, or because he was her best friend. But he mainly knew when she was in discomfort because it was in her eyes, those beautiful, sunset, eyes.

He frowned, thinking those last thoughts were a teeny bit strange… He stood up and looked at the beautiful starry night like it was a scenery painting at a museum. Po really couldn't describe it, but he felt empty inside and he knew that the empty-ness wasn't his stomach growling for nourishment.

But what he couldn't understand the most was why learning a little fact about Master Croc's background was causing a lot of trouble in his mind. He was supposed to have inner peace, but he still had so many questions and not enough answers. He sighed, took one last breath of the fresh air and decided it was time to head back to the student barracks to his cozy, um, messy room. Aw man, how would he get to sleep when his bed was covered with water? Humph, he'd find a way…

But before Po could turn around to begin his journey back to his lodging, a very feminine voice came into the clearing. "Ahem?" it asked.

And right then and there the giant panda smiled and he swore that he felt like the whole entire whole had been bouncing with joy, because he was absolutely relieved to hear it.

Po quickly spun around to see the 'her' in his nightmare, one of his best friends, and teammate, Tigress. In the shimmering moonlight her classic red vest almost looked purple.

She cocked her head to the side. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Po blinked. " Oh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be fine, everything's fine, I..." He trailed off and sighed. He also knew that he couldn't get things past Tigress. "No." he finally stammered.

Tigress chuckled at the panda's attempt to cover up his troubles. She smiled kindly at him and began walking towards him when the wind blew forcefully and a cascade of peach petals filled the air. The tiger paused for a moment as she watch the petals fly away from the old tree and get lost in the air. While looking at the tree, she spotted two ripe and juicy peaches dangling from the bare branches on the top of the tree.

She looked at Po, winked at the panda, then leapt from her feet, jumped, and did a side-ways cartwheel in the air while grabbing the two pieces of fruit in her paw and successfully landed back on her feet.

Po looked at her in awe and then smirked. "Show off." He said.

Tigress raised her eyebrows and laughed sarcastically. "Ha ha," she handed a peach to her friend. "Here." The tiger said. "You don't want to think on an empty stomach." she teased.

Po chuckled. "Actually I'm not that hungry," he eyed the delightful looking peach and shrugged. "But, uh, why not." He said as he accepted the tasty object from Tigress.

They ate their delicious snack in silence while they sat on the edge of the cliff with their feet dangling over the side. Their eyes filled with wonder as they looked at the beautiful stars in the distance.

Po was the first one to finish his peach. He swallowed his last bite of the sweet fruit and started to talk. "I'm, uh, surprised you came up here," he started. "I thought you were..." he paused, his friend was here with him, not dead. " I thought you were still sleeping." He finished.

She popped the last of her peach into her mouth and shook her head. "I was already up." She wiped her mouth with the back of her paw and nodded. "I was preparing for our pre-certification test tomorrow."

Po nodded back. "Oh, yeah, big training day tomorrow. I um, must have forgot, after having that nightmare, uh, about that." he paused and waited a few seconds before going on. "But, uh, then how come you weren't around when everyone was trying to wake me up?"

The tiger stiffened and chose her words very slowly and carefully. "The Furious Five had it under control. My presence was not needed at the moment." She lied.

There she was, hiding things again. Po knew she probably was sore and couldn't get up in time to help organize the gang. But he _knew_ not to accuse her of anything so he didn't try to press her.

"Oh, so you didn't see what they the Five were doing to my room?" he asked. "When Master Shifu woke me up, me and bed were wet and everything was covered in feathers!"

Tigress looked surprised. "Really?" she laughed. "Well, I suppose that's why Shifu was scolding them!"

"Oh, he was scolding them?" Po asked. "I thought he was. Hehe, the guys are gonna have to explain everything to us tomorrow morning!" he said.

"Yes," Tigress agreed. "Yes, they are. But, uh, Po?"

"Yeah?"

"It is morning."

"Oh."

Tigress changed the subject. "May I ask what happened a few hours ago?"

Po's expression changed. "Uh, you mean with all the shouting and stuff." He questioned.

"Yes, what happened?" Tigress asked. "You had a nightmare, correct?"

The panda sighed. "Yep. Worst ones yet too…"

"Do you want to share it?" she asked.

Po shrugged talking about things usually did help. It helped make everything feel not so heavy on his shoulders. The panda sighed and began to tell the feline about his un-awesome dream.

"Okay, so you know, when you told us about Master Croc last night, I thought that getting some rest would help with, you know," he gestured in a circling motion. "What told us."

"But it didn't." Tigress implied.

"No," Po shook his head. "It didn't, it was the worst, nightmare, ever. I started having flashbacks of everything that's gone on with my life, including the last few weeks. And so, you know when we were saying our good-byes to the Masters last week?"

"Yes?"

"Well, Croc turned into this psycho manic dude-"

Tigress stifled a laugh.

"What?" Po asked.

"Sorry," she said. "My apologies, I just thought how you described Croc was funny. I can't picture him as a psycho man- what you said…go on."

Po reconsidered what he said. "Yeah," he nodded. "I guess I can't imagine it either, but he did, and he kidnapped me! He took me to Lord Shen's old hideout while he explained to Shen how he killed Master Flying Rhino. Then they spotted me and tried to kill me, but then they tried to- I can't explain it- like they were trying to lure me or frighten me off or something like that. Do you get what they were trying to do?" he asked frantically.

"Yes, they were trying to frighten you so you would lose your strength so they could get you." Tigress confirmed.

"Yeah, and so they captured –" then he paused. He couldn't say that Croc and Shen had captured her, saying that would freak her out. "They captured some, I don't know, random person, a victim, and then I guess that scared me really badly. Then Croc ran after me and got me. Then they blindfolded me and tied me up while the victim was being killed with one of Shen's cannons. Then everything kept on echoing until Master Shifu woke me up." Po finished. "Whew! That was a long story!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, that seems like quite a nightmare." Tigress replied.

She opened her mouth as if to ask a question but then she hesitated. The feline knew that since Po had been screaming her name hours ago, she had an idea that she had been the 'victim'. She knew it was her job to only comfort Po and to tell him he had nothing to worry about. But curiosity got the best of her and she wanted to ask Po who the 'victim' was anyway.

She opened her mouth and asked the question "And this victim... it seemed to scare you a lot. Did you recognize it?"

Po's eyes widened. Here was the question he dreaded. But he couldn't just lie to Tigress; he just wouldn't say that the 'victim' was her. "Yes." he said slowly. "I think that's what scared me the most."

"What it someone you are close to?" she asked. "Your father perhaps?"

"No, someone else," Po said very quickly. But then the giant panda realized something; Croc and Shen had used his best friend to, as Tigress had said 'To frighten you so you would lose your strength so they could get you.' They had used someone… close to him, someone he cared about.

He looked at the feline as she patiently stared back waiting for an answer from him. He had to say something to her. He gulped and decided to take his chances.

"Yes, the victim was someone very, um, special to me." he looked at Tigress, the victim and spoke his final two words in a small whisper. "She is."

Tigress' eyes darted back and forth. _"Did he just say I was special to him?"_ she thought. She suddenly felt heat rise to her cheeks, but she pushed the feeling away and nodded. "I understand..." she said.

Po, on the hand was a little bit embarrassed. Tigress seemed a little puzzled. Did he say too much? He bit the inside of his cheek and looked around, he then noticed something stuck in his companion's fur. He pointed at her head, causing her to get confused.

"Uh, you've got a little something in your...never mind, I got it…" The panda reached up and gently pulled the blossom petals from her Tigress' soft, orange, fur.

"There." he said.

Then in that moment, their eyes locked. They stared into each other's eyes with, what I guess you can say was, wonder. The two of them were silent, either of them saying a word.

Okay readers, I got to interrupt you so you can stop thinking 'Could it be - LOVE?'

Or 'Oh, they're gonna kiss!' Cause they're not going to, well, at least, not now, in this story. The reason I say so is because love, is a tricky subject…

Well, you see readers; Tigress doesn't really know what love is. She thinks that it is extremely dangerous. That it breaks everything. But she's never felt love; Tai-Lung got all of Shifu's admiration. She's read about it in fairy tales and has heard the little village girls talk about it, but she thinks its silly. But deep inside, Tigress knew that one day her 'prince' would come. But for the past years, she had ignored every thing feeling she'd ever gotten. A Kung Fu Master could not be occupied with such silliness.

But on this every night, when she heard Po scream her name, something clicked, and it startled her very badly. So, this is what Tigress had been thinking about in her room a few chapters ago. Since their last big adventure last week, Tigress had started to feel something, and like always, she's pushed it away. But right now, in this moment, while looking into Po's eyes, the feeling came back, and it was very strong.

Just being in the presence of someone who just told her he cared about her made her feel like a light went on inside of her. And she knew right then, that she had someone she could count on and trust forever. She had a friend, a best friend.

Po wasn't sure what just happened. But right now, he didn't care. All he knew was that is was staring into Tigress' beautiful amber eyes. She had such a kind and warm-hearted look in her eyes that it made him feel so comforted, even though his stomach was twisting on the inside. But right here in this moment, he forgot about Master Croc, he forgot about his nightmare, all his worries were gone. He now understood how special she was to him, and that he was probably special to her too.

And believe or not, all those thoughts the two of them just had, was only a few seconds long.

Tigress softly spoke and broke the trance they seemed to be in. "It's getting late, um, early." She said. "You should try to get some sleep, not nightmares. Tomorrow's a big day after all."

"Oh...yes." Po agreed. The panda then started to get up.

"Wait." Tigress suddenly grabbed his arm, pulled him back down, and looked him straight in the eye. "I _promise_ you'll get the answers to your questions soon." She gave Po a sweet, genuine, smile that Po loved to see and squeezed his paw. "Deal?"

Po nodded as he helped Tigress up. "Deal."

Then the tiger and the panda gathered a few more peaches for the breakfast table and walked down the steep steps together.

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**There you have it! What did you think? This was the first story I made, so I wanted to put Tipo in it. But then I realized that this is Master Croc's story, not Po and Tigress' story. I wanted to put some kind of Tipo in this story, well at least lots of friendship parts. For this chapter, I wanted to emphasize Tigress and Po having a strong friendship, but maybe it could be something more. What do you guys think? Too mushy, not enough, perfect, wanted more? I really need reviews on this chapter because I am going to be making other stories that have LOTS of Tipo in it. So I need to know what you guys think.**

**Please review, it means so much to me! This is the chapter I am most proud of, so it would be awesome to be some nice reviews. You guys absolutely rock with all the reviews, keep it up!**

**This is probably the last chapter that will be up before the New Year. 2013!? I can't believe it! Merry Christmas everyone!**

**And again, could you guys check out my poll and vote? Thanks!**

**Catch you later!**


	8. A Weird Wakeup

**Hi everyone! I'm back! Sorry about the late update. Everything's been busy. We ended up celebrating our Christmas a week later because everyone got sick on Christmas Eve. So yeah, it's been crazy!**

**I hope everyone had a nice holiday! I sure did! I got Kung Fu Panda trading cards and plates! They're really cool! Especially the plates, they're not paper plates, they're actually plates you can wash and eat on over and over again! I got one of Po and one of Tigress! They're AWESOME!**

**Thank you to the two people that voted on my poll, it means a lot! Come guys! Polls are fun! All you have to do to click!**

**And thank you, thank you, and thank you, to my 100****th**** reviewer! Thanks so much Iracebeth! It means so much it me that you enjoy my story and gave me my 100****th**** review. I never thought my first story would get this many reviews. You guys absolutely rock!**

**Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Kung Fu Panda.**

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_Chapter Eight: A Weird Wakeup_

_DONG…_

_DONG…_

_DONG…_

Somewhere around the globe, in the continent of Asia, in a country named China, is a decent sized village called The Valley of Peace. The Valley of Peace was a very beautiful land in the summer time. The sun would rise at a very early time, creating a very lovely sunrise. And in the evening, the skyline was filled with such dazzling, twinkling stars; you would feel as if you're a part of a piece of artwork.

So, if you zoom in from space with your super x-ray vision, (that is, if you have that) or your humongous telescope, (oh, I guess that would work too…) you would find two geese on the top of a very beautiful mountain getting ready to wake everyone by ringing the morning gong.

The ancient gong had been around when the creator of Kung Fu, Master Oogway was a boy and it weighed over 2,000 pounds. It took two people to ring the heavy object.

So, at 5:58 a.m., Zeng, the head servant of the Jade Palace, adjusted his little hat, stretched his wings and back, and prepared to pick up the heavy mallet with his other goose companion.

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_TWO MINUTES LATER_…

The two palace geese stooped down, picked up the mallet with a little groan, and struck the gong.

_DONG…_

_DONG…_

_DONG…_

Then just a few miles away from the mountain where Zeng and the other servant rang the gong were the student barracks where the Kung Fu Master and trainees slept.

_DONG…_

_DONG…_

_DONG…_

At exactly 6:00 a.m. Po the panda's eyes flew open. Time to get up to train; he didn't want to be scolded today for sleeping in. Po reluctantly got up from his cot the barely held him as quickly as he could and he staggered to the door and pushed it open.

"Good morning, Master Shifu!" he said stammered hastily while he slid the door shut.

When he looked from his door, he was very confused to see the no one was there, not even Master Shifu!

Po frowned, where were they?!

The panda looked left and right down the corridor. No one was in sight. Had Shifu and The Furious Five started training without him?

Po jumped as he heard a loud noise coming from the room across from him.

_SLAM!_

Po watched as a frantic Tigress literally leaped out of her room and quickly said the statement that everyone had said every morning. "Good morning, Master Shifu!" she panted. "My apologies, forgive me for-" she stopped when she noticed that no one was in the hallway except for her and the panda.

"How did _I _manage to get up before _you_?" Po asked.

Tigress made a half-smirk half-frown face and she shook her head. "No idea…" she trailed off.

Then the two just stared at each other, not knowing what to do or say. Master Shifu wasn't even up yet! This had never happened before, well, unless they were given the day off or something, but with the exceptions of that, it was protocol that everyone got up at 6:00a.m. or earlier.

So the two of them stared at each other uncomfortably and shifted their feet from side to side.

Po looked around. "So…" he said.

Tigress raised her eyebrows. "So…" she replied. " I suppose you had a nice sleep for the rest of the night?"

Po shrugged. "I guess… I've had better. No more bad dreams though…"

"Good." Tigress said. "I'm pleased to hear that. You really have nothing to worry about. You don't have to take Master Croc's past so dramatically."

"Hey!" Po shot back. That was a bit insulting…

Tigress smirked and waved her paw in the air. "You know what I mean."

Po frowned. "Yeah, I guess so." He really didn't know what she meant. He decided to change the subject before Tigress said something about their little 'moment' last night.

He gestured to her. "You? Did you manage to get back to sleep?"

The feline nodded. "Yes, and as you just saw, I also managed to over sleep…"

Po rolled his eyes. "Hey, it happens every so often. At least you're up now…you've beat Master Shifu!"

Tigress crossed her arms and made that 'Hmmmhph…' sound.

The panda intertwined his fingers together and leaned forward. "Do you think we should get breakfast going or something?" he asked.

"No," Tigress shook her head. "Let's wait a few more minutes."

Po made a small groan and nodded. "Okay, you're the leader…"

Tigress made a noise and gave him a 'Really?' look.

Po just rolled his eyes playfully.

* * *

_TEN MINUTES LATER_

"You're positive I can't make breakfast yet?!"

"Yes, have patience Po…"

Tigress was starting to get irritated. Not with Po, but with everyone else. Well, not really Master Shifu, he had already been up all night filling out important papers and documents for the upcoming weekend. He was Master of the Jade Palace, so he could sleep in if he wanted to. But it was protocol for all students wake up at their correct time.

But this was very unlikely of everyone. Sleeping in ten minutes late? Had something happened? They probably were resting from Po's outburst last night. The rest of the Five, in fact, _had_ spent over two hours trying to wake her best friend up from his 'monumental' nightmare. Jeez, who knew that Master Croc could make Po be all paranoid…

But still, evil didn't stop for a rest, and if right now, if there was a supposed, um, bandit raid, The Furious Five and The Dragon Warrior would be in quite some trouble. Well, Tigress guessed that she and Po could probably take down some bandits. But it wouldn't be good for everyone to be asleep like this…

"Should we go train or something?" Po asked. He hoped Tigress would say 'yes' so the panda could actually do something, even if the task was doing some kind of hard-core training.

"No," she replied yet again. "Just wait. They should be up any second now."

As if that was his cue, Crane stumbled out of his room without his traditional rice hat on and mumbled. "Good morning, Master…" only to find that Master Shifu wasn't there.

Startled, Crane frantically looked around. "Where is everybody?" he asked.

Tigress eyed the bird. "_Still sleeping."_ She huffed very shortly with clear irritation.

"Oh," Crane replied. Then the avian gave Po a look that clearly said 'She's mad, isn't she?'

Po gave a small nod.

"Uh," Crane cleared his throat. "Should we go have breakfast or train or do something?"

"No." Tigress quickly retorted. "We'll wait for the others."

"Should we wake them up?" Po asked.

"No." Tigress lifted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Let them sleep."

Yes, yes, readers. Tigress is definitely mad. She likes to get everything done as the same pace as everyone. That way there would be no confusion. Because if one person fails to get up or doing something and fails, the whole team fails. So doing things together would help them get into the habit of being a successful team.

The feline absolutely _loves_ to be on time and _hates_ being tardy. She can't _stand_ being_ late._ Hehe, that's a little hint for an upcoming story… but, uh, back to the present situation.

No one dared to question Tigress about waking everyone up, especially when she was in a bad mood. So the three of them just stared awkwardly at each other.

* * *

_FIVE MINUTES LATER_

Crane had retrieved his hat and was trying to make small talk with everyone. "You guys ready for today?"

Po nodded. "Yep, ready than I'll ever be! I'm a little nervous though."

"Don't have worries." Tigress replied. "You'll be fine. I know - "

"It's actually really fun!" Crane interrupted. The black crested crane winced as he received another look from the Kung Fu cat-fighter.

Then that was that. No one else talked.

A few seconds later, they heard some rustling coming from Viper's room as the green tree snake quickly slithered out of her room and bowed. "Good morning, Master Shifu. I'm sorry I-"

Then Viper noticed that it was only Crane, Po, and Tigress out in the hallway. No Monkey or Mantis. Not even Master Shifu! How strange!

To her surprise everyone that was in the hallway gasped as she exited her room. "What?" she questioned.

"Um, Viper," Crane whispered. "Maybe you should go look in a mirror…"

Viper gasped as she frantically went back into her room and found her tiny, little, hand decorated mirror from her mother.

She looked like a mess!

Her beautiful, blue, eyes looked as if someone had taken ashes and smeared them all over her eyes lids. The snake scowled, she had forgotten to take off mascara last night. That was typical on a day she was tired. But the rest of her face made her look like was a clown!

She ribbon-like-flowers that she usually tied around her head were undone. And she had thought she had quickly put some red lipstick on before exiting her room that morning.

She did put the lipstick on, that was good. But Viper had been in such a hurry that the bright, red, lipstick had been smeared above her upper lip and chin.

"Oh my gosh!" She screamed. "I look like some crazy lunatic! Thanks so much Crane! Good thing I have time to fix this!"

"Make it quick!" the snake heard.

She could have sworn Tigress said that…

* * *

_2 MINUTES LATER_

As Viper hastily tried to fix her makeup, Monkey and Mantis both emerged from their bedrooms and into the open corridor. "Good morning, Master Shifu!" they both gasped.

"Master Shifu!" Monkey cried. "I have an excuse! It's all Po's fault! I didn't do-" Monkey froze when he saw that not only was Po standing right next to him, but Master Shifu was not in the hallway.

"Uh, sorry, about that Po…hehe…" The primate giggled, turned around, and started hitting his head. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Hey guys," Mantis said. "How's it going? What's for breakfast?"

Po stopped frowning at Monkey and looked at Tigress. "Can we eat now?" he asked for the fifth time.

Tigress also shook her head for the tenth time. "No, not until Master Shi-"

"Good Morning students!" called the red panda as he _finally_ stepped into the hallway. He seemed a bit groggy from everything that had gone the night before. But never less, Shifu still contained that same energy and strictness that a Grand Master had.

"I am glad to see of you all are up and ready for the day." Shifu continued. "I apologize for being tardy. I am glad that you all stayed together and didn't wander off to train or have breakfast. Good job." He praised.

Po looked at Tigress and mouthed. "Thanks." He was glad that she had known what to do. It probably saved him some push-ups…

Tigress simply smiled sweetly and gave the panda a look that clearly said 'I know, you can thank me later with a spar.'

Po slightly grimaced. Was a spar a reward or a punishment?

Shifu cleared his throat. "I hope and trust all of you are ready for our pre-certification practice test today?"

Everyone in the room nodded. This weekend Po and the Furious Five would be testing for certification to instruct. This was one of the most critical and educational times for Kung Fu Masters. In order to day teach the next generation of Kung Fu students, own your own Kung Fu school, or be Grand Master of a palace, you have to go to Certification Testing.

Po would be testing for his Level 1; if he passed he would become a Trainer. Then he would be able to teach classes all by himself without being under the watchful eye of Master Shifu.

Viper, Mantis, and Monkey would test for Level 2, Specialty Trainer. The three of them would then be able to schedule their own classes and mentor other beginning children who were interested in teaching and taking Certification Testing.

Crane and Tigress would be testing for Level 3, Full Certification. Tigress and Crane would then be able to take over the palace when needed, become a very high ranked Master, they could transfer over to a different Kung Fu school to teach, and continue to teach the next generation of kung fu warriors.

As soon as Po tested, he would be able to teach a private one on one class with a child just like the panda's friends already did.

"What are waiting for?!" Master Shifu asked, interrupting Po's thoughts and startling everyone. "Let's go eat!"

As everyone walked to the dinning hall, Po pictured the certification document in his hands:

* * *

_Master Po Ping_

_Level 1_

_Trainer_

* * *

**So there you have it! The eighth chapter! Sorry it was kind of short…**

**Wow! Believe or not, this story is halfway done. I'm thinking that this is going to be a pretty short story. It will be probably 15 chapters at the most. * sad face * But short stories are good right?**

**Okay, again, please check out my poll. You can find it on my profile page.**

**Please review! It means so much to me! Without you readers and reviewers, there wouldn't be 100 reviews on my story! Thanks to you guys, you have made it happen! So please review. Usually, I get 160 views on the story each time I update. Imagine how many reviews I would get if each person reviewed?! So please be one of those 160 readers that review. Tell me what you liked about this chapter. Was there a part that made you laugh? Are my characters in character? Are you still wondering about what mysteriousness might lie ahead?**

**Thanks so much!**

**Catch you later!**


	9. Surprises and Suspense for Breakfast

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back! Sorry, again, about this late update. Last weekend was my birthday, so I was doing birthday stuff. I got a laptop as a present, and now I'm writing my newest fanficion chapter on it! Yay! So exciting!**

**Okay, then, this chapter is a shorter one too, just like the last one. I realized that a few of you guys don't want to the story to end so quickly, so I'm trying to stretch out the chapters…even if they are pretty short.**

**Also, parts of this chapter may seem like the characters are a bit out of character. But it is meant to be funny and show how the characters would probably act in (in my opinion) of everyday life. Tell me what you think.**

**I've also decided that most of you want to see where the whole Tipo thing goes in this story, so I think I'm going to add a bit more throughout the story! What do you think about that?**

**And last thing, the author Simba593 has a songfic collection out called DJ Simba593's Collection: Emerald Edition. It is a collection of songfic (as you can tell from the title) that anyone can make a request! I did one and it is absolutely fantastic! So, if you don't mind, please check out his songfic collections! They are great! You can find them on my favorites! My song request is All I Ask of You, and I'm planning on requesting more soon!**

**Please read and review! It means so much to me!**

**Okay then, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. I really wish I did though….If I did, I'd make sure that I could see Kung Fu Panda 3 NOW instead of 2016. I'll be old then!**

* * *

_Chapter Nine: Surprises and Suspense for Breakfast _

* * *

Po the Dragon Warrior, the Furious Five, and Shifu all went into the kitchen to have breakfast.

Ahh breakfast time: the most important meal of the day. Breakfast time is the time where you all sit down with grouchy faces from arising from your slumber and eating yummy food like pancakes or eggs. You get to tell each other jokes and laugh out loud as hard as you can. Something about having breakfast or anything other kind of meal with people you know and love seems magical. Something about being in that moment feels as if it's a picture in a photo album. I love it.

On the downside though, I don't like breakfast food so much, well, except for pancakes or anything that has to deal with chocolate chips, but everything else is growing on me though. It really is…

So, as I was saying before you all got me talking about breakfast, Po immediately went to one of the kitchen cabinets after checking the food chart for the day; he was starving for a delicious meal. Luckily, today was his turn to choose the first meal of the day. He then hastily began to prepare the food.

In the meanwhile, Shifu, Crane, Tigress, Viper, and Monkey took their seats at the table as Mantis hopped from a chair, to the tip of Monkey's shoulder, to his usually setting at the table. Then the six of them just waited for some nourishment as they listened to the sound of Po banging pots and pans around the stovetop.

"So Master Shifu," Viper spoke. "Have you heard word from the Certification Head Quarters?" the green tree snake asked. She looked much better by the way. There wasn't a smear of mascara or lipstick on her face at all.

Everyone leaned in very intently (including Po) to hear what Master Shifu had to say. They were all waiting for approval from the Certification Center to test for their next level. Each year they had to send in a record from the past year of their accomplishments, hoping that they had done enough work for the year to upgrade their leadership level.

"Yes," the red panda replied with a smile. "The Certification Center has indeed received your papers and has put your names down on their lists to certify this year."

Everyone sighed with relief. And being his first year and all, Po cheered with delight at being accepted to certify.

Shifu turned towards Po. "Now, my student," he said in a stern tone. But Po could tell his Master wasn't mad or anything. "Yes you have been approved of by the Center, but you still have a few more challenges to come." Shifu reminded him. "There is still our little mock-test to do, the journey to get to the Head Quarters, and the final testing for the certification."

"I know Master," Po grinned. "I'm just happy that I'm one step closer to getting there!"

Shifu returned the smile. "I know you are. I am too."

Po chuckled and returned back to his pot that seemed to be boiling over with a thick concoction.

"So, Master Shifu," Tigress said. "Are you planning anything special today for training?" she paused. "Besides our mock-testing, I mean." the feline asked quietly.

The red panda rubbed his fingers on his chin. "Maybe Tigress, maybe…" He said. Then after a few seconds he nodded. "Yes, we'll probably do something extra. I also have a little surprise for all of you today." He added causing everyone to wonder what to expect at training time.

Everyone kept quiet, wondering what the surprise was to be. It was probably something very special. Shifu rarely gave them surprises. But one panda on the other hand was very curious about the special thing he was to receive at training.

The giant panda turned around to face his friends, his back towards the pot and stovetop. He stepped forward and said in an innocent whisper:

"What's the surprise?" Po asked surreptitiously.

"Po…" Tigress frowned. "Don't ruin it for us by guessing…" she warned.

The rest of The Furious Five groaned because they knew what was coming. Tigress admitted it. Po, the Dragon Warrior, was an extremely good guesser. He ruined surprises for her and her comrades all the time, not to even mention surprise attacks…

Po chuckled at his best friend and smirked playfully. He opened his jaw dramatically and said, "Is it a surprise that no one can figure out expect for me, the Dragon Warrior?"

"No Po," Shifu confirmed. And that was when Shifu should have kept his mouth closed, but the red panda kept on going anyway. "The surprise will be very unlikely, though it will probably scare you."

Po was on to something now. The black and white panda pressed his lips forward with wide eyes. "Is it a bad guy?"

"No." Shifu replied.

"Is it a new weapon?"

"No."

"Is it a new FIRE BREATHING weapon that will help us with the certification test?" Po was on a roll. He wasn't about to give up now!

"NO." Shifu retorted back.

"Is it a group of child-" Po was stopped suddenly by Tigress as she clamped her paw over his mouth.

"Po?" the tiger said with a slight growl of irritation coming from her throat, she didn't want the panda to ruin the surprise. She removed her paw from Po's face.

"Yes?" Po whispered. His friend rarely ever scared him, but the look she was giving him now was a bit intimidating. What did he do? He was just playing around with Shifu.

"Shut up." The tiger ordered.

Po froze and gave Tigress a stern look. Then a sneaky smile crept onto the panda's face. "**You first."** He shot back.

Now it was Tigress' turn to look shocked. The others all gasped and gave a little laugh at Po's comeback.

"Ooh….BURN!" Monkey exclaimed.

Tigress whipped around to face Monkey and gave him a startling look. Then the feline returned her gaze back to Po. "You are _so_ going to spar me later." She demanded.

Po just chuckled, though he was silently being scared at what the tiger had just said. When Tigress demanded a spar, she wasn't just saying it to threaten them. She would make sure she spared with them and she would make sure that it hurt.

But Po wasn't going to stop now. No, the fun was just getting started… "Oh, am I?" Po retorted.

Tigress growled and Po just laughed back at her, he could tell she was trying very hard to hold back laughter. Then the tiger and the panda met each other's gaze and had a sort of staring contest. After a few intense seconds of the two of them squinting their eyes and Po making funny faces at his friend, Tigress was the first to speak.

"Po," She nodded towards the panda and the stovetop. "Your food is on fire."

"What!? It is?" Po and Tigress' ultimate stare down, and the trash talking came to an end when The Dragon Warrior jumped with a start and quickly returned back to the stovetop to rescue his beloved food.

Then everyone (including Po and Tigress) shared a good laugh at their comrade's silliness and the discussion of the 'spar' and 'shutting up' was over and in the past.

A few minutes later, after talking a little bit about a training technique called Positive – Correct – Positive, Po finally proclaimed that it was breakfast time.

The panda quickly scooped the thick substance into average sized bowls and sprinkled some kind of topping over the meal. Then the panda put whatever 'topping' he was adding to the main course into its own separate bowl.

"What are you making for breakfast, Po?" Mantis asked as he smelled the aroma of cinnamon and peaches. "It smells really good!" the little insect added.

Po turned around and slid everyone's bowls to their settings one by one. "Ta Da!" Po exclaimed. "We're having oatmeal with diced peaches! Looks good, huh?"

Po was delighted as he heard thanks from everyone in the room. Cooking for his friends NEVER got old. Po then gave everyone a spoon, served himself a bowl of the porridge, sat down next to Tigress, and started to dig into the delicious meal.

Everyone enjoyed the food immensely, and took their time to eat the oatmeal and fruit. Well, save for Shifu. The poor red panda had to still organize some things for the upcoming weekend. He only had three days to write letters to the Head Quarters to thank them for accepting his students to test, give his students the final procedure prior to the certification testing, and go over last minutes scrolls to make sure that he had done everything right to ensure his students could qualify for the testing.

So Shifu gobbled down his food very quickly, despite Po scolding him that he might get indigestion, dismissed himself, told the others he would call them when it was time to train, and headed off to his study.

"Can you pass the peaches Po?" asked Crane.

"Sure Crane," Po replied as he reached for the fruit bowl. "They're really good. Tigress and I picked them last night."

That's when Crane's eyebrows went up. Lately, he had been keeping an eye on Tigress and Po. He didn't know what it was, but since one week ago when they had defeated Lord Shen, the black crested crane had sensed something different between the two… it seemed that the two of them had gotten a bit closer than they had ever been before. Not that Po and Tigress always fought or anything, but the way that acted towards each other was…different.

The avian just couldn't seem to put a feather (minus the ones he lost last night) on it. And since he had always felt like a big brother to Tigress, he just felt the need to watch over her a bit. So why was Tigress up last night around two o'clock in the morning with Po? And they probably were at the peach tree too, since…well, that was the place to get peaches…

Crane cleared his throat. "Oh, Tigress, you were up last night? Um, we could've used your help with waking up Po and all...we tried everything."

Tigress froze and eyed Viper. She didn't want everyone to think that she had skipped out on waking Po to get 'beauty sleep'. That would ruin her reputation of a leader.

Viper looked back at Tigress and gave her a reassuring look saying that Tigress could trust her to cover up last night's incident.

Crane repeated what he had said, thinking the feline hadn't heard him. "Um, Tigress, what were you doin-"

"I told Tigress to go back to sleep," Viper interrupted sharply. "The four of us had it under control." The snake finished.

The Dragon Warrior chuckled a little bit. "You guys had it under control?! Seriously," Po laughed. "Under control?!"

Monkey, Viper, Crane, and Mantis looked at their panda friend with uneasy looks.

"What do you mean Po?" Viper said soothingly.

Po frowned. "Would you guys like to explain why there is water and feathers in my messed up room that, as I remember, was very tidy before I went to bed last night?!"

"Oh…" Monkey said as he shifted in his seat.

Silence.

After a few seconds, Crane sighed. "Ahh… okay, who wants to go first?"

Then Viper, Crane, Monkey, and Mantis all took their turns confessing about the whole scenario that happened the night before while Po and Tigress laughed so hard, they wouldn't eat their meal in fear that they would choke from laughing.

"Okay, okay," Po said slowly when his friends were done telling him their story. "First, you nerve pinched me…"

The crane, snake, monkey, and praying mantis nodded.

"Then you decided to bang the ceremonial gong in front of my face…"

Monkey giggled tediously.

Po pointed a finger towards Crane. "Then _you _decided to pour a gallon of water on top of my head!"

Crane said nothing…

Po kept the finger on Crane, "Then you also slapped me!"

Crane pulled his hat over his face.

Then Po moved his finger towards Mantis. "Then you yelled in my face!"

"Hey!" Mantis interjected. "I yell in everybody's face all the time!" the insect yelled back at the panda.

Po pondered this. "Hmm…you got a point there." He replied. "But then you guys-"

"Then you guys tried to lure him with food." Tigress interrupted. "Whose idea was that?"

Silence.

"No one's…." Monkey said slyly.

"Then you guys pretended to be a robber." Tigress continued. She scoffed, "I'm not even going to ask you whose idea that was."

Crane gulped.

"You tickled Po with a feather," she went on. "Then you rolled him off of his bed, creating a hole in Po's bedroom…then you panicked." The hard-core cat fighter laughed heartedly. "Now I can see why you guys needed me!"

"Oh, yeah!" everyone agreed in unison.

"But that's okay Tigress," Viper reassured. "We really did have it under control."

"Uh, yeah, if you count having to pull our vocal chords in the process being 'in control'!" Mantis complained. The insect used his 'thingies' for emphasis. "Po," he continued," "You were screaming like a banshee for some girl."

Po froze. He had been told by everyone that he talked in his sleep. But this time, he was screaming in his sleep?! He must have been screaming Tigress' name or something. Great, the last he needed was:

1. Be reminded of his scary dream about Master Croc.

2. Have to tell his friends and Tigress that the girl in his dream that he was apparently screaming about was Tigress.

Po didn't know what to say! He took a deep breath. "Uh… if I was screaming," he said with shaky laughter. "Didn't, uh, you hear me scream a name?"

This was awful. The panda didn't want Tigress to find out that 'her' really was herself. He had already half-lied to Tigress about it last night; he didn't want her to find out. Then things would be all awkward. She wouldn't trust him so much anymore if she found out he had half-lied to her!

"No," Monkey shook his head. "We didn't hear you shout any name, just "Help her! She's gonna die!" You didn't say any kind of name. Who was it?" the primate asked.

Across from Monkey, Tigress was lost in her thoughts. The rest of the Five hadn't heard Po shout any kind of name. But she had. Po was screaming her name before the others had woken up! She had just been guessing hours before that she had been 'The Victim', but now she knew for sure.

She was 'The Victim'.

And Po had admitted that she was very special to him. Unnoticed by the others, a small smile crept onto Tigress' face.

Then the feline realized that Po was having a hard time answering Monkey's question. Was Po too nervous to say that she was 'Her'?

Tigress ignored that thought and decided to help him out. She tapped the panda's shoulder. "It was just some kind of victim, right Po?"

"Um...yes," Po stuttered with nervousness. But then the panda shrugged like it was nothing at all. "But, no, it wasn't just a victim...I knew it, uh, I mean, the victim."

Everyone leaned in, the suspense was killing them. Was Po really, truly, going to say who 'her' was?!

Po decided to face the facts and tell everyone who it was. The panda took a deep breath.

"The victim was…"

* * *

**A/N: Okay then! How did you like that? Good cliffhanger?**

**So yeah…I hope the characters didn't seem too OOC to you guys. I thought it was funny. Well, actually, my brother thought it was funny. **

**He thought making Po have a comeback to Tigress' 'shut up' would be great. We thought it would show how all the characters play around with each other on a regular basis! **

**So yes, my little brother helps me sometimes with funny dialogue. He is responsible for the 'shut up' part. And I had forgotten to mention a few chapters ago that he also made quite a few of the Ten Ways on How NOT to Wake Giant Pandas. His favorite NOT that he made is number six with the food.**

**So yeah, will Po finally admit to everyone that Tigress was the victim? What's up with Tigress? Has she begun to realize something? What's with all the certification stuff, does that interest you? And….Wondering what mysteriousness might lie just ahead? We'll find out soon!**

**Please check out Simba593's songfic collections! They rock!**

**So yes, PLEASE review. It means so much to me! Tell me what you liked most, if anything made you laugh, if there's something that's made you curious….anything! Don't be shy…. Any author appreciates any kind of feedback; I would love to hear from you guys!**

**Catch you later!**


	10. Trials, Talks, and Training

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm FINALLY back! It's been awhile since I updated, huh? Sorry about that… the weekends get busy…. I had a wonderful time last weekend playing my harp at a very fancy theater… it was such a treat to get to go there and play for political people!**

**I also have awesome news to share! I have uploaded my very first Kung Fu Panda video up on youtube! Yay! It is awesome, I tell you AWESOME! I am playing the piano while an awesome slideshow movie is going on! So please, please, please check it out and comment on it, or favorite it, or like it! It's AWESOME! Here's the link!**

** watch?v=0c9sI2-TDS0**

**Please check it out! You can also find my youtube link on my profile or search this on youtube: starwars5444**

**Now, on with the story. Sorry to tell you this, but this probably will be one of my most boring and shortest chapters ever. I'm just trying to stretch out the chapters to make the story longer! Sorry! Well, this might not be so boring…you all want to find out if Po's going to tell or not! And short chapters are sometimes good….right?**

**Please read all of this and review it! Yes, you silent reader…I'm looking at you and I know who you are because you just told me today that you read this story. Review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda…I think everyone writing Kung Fu Panda fanfiction did…. So sad….**

* * *

**Previously on The Mysterious Master Croc….**

…_..Breakfast was a blast…._

…_.Po and Tigress trash talked to each other…._

…_Master Shifu has a surprise…_

…_..__**Tigress has realized something**__….._

…_..She is the victim from Po's nightmare….._

…_..She has realized…_

…_..That she is very special to the panda….._

…_And he's very special to her….._

…_..He truly is her best friend….._

…_..__**On the other hand**__…_

…_.Po is in trouble…._

…_..His friends want to know who the victim was….._

…_..Tigress saw hesitance and tried to help her best friend…._

…_..But Po decided to reveal who the victim was anyway…..._

…_..Even if it meant revealing that he and Tigress had a special bond….._

_**..…."The victim was…"…..**_

* * *

_Chapter Ten: Trials, Talks, and Training_

* * *

"The victim was…." Po lingered there for a second. Was he really going to tell everyone that Tigress was the person Lord Shen and Master Croc had captured and tortured in his dream?

Uh….well no. Of course he didn't want to tell them. Maybe he would tell Tigress one day, but not all the guys and Viper! He'd probably get teased forever and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever!

But he had to now; everyone was leaning in intently to hear who 'her' was!

"Po?" Monkey asked.

Po jolted and stopped arguing with himself. He put a cool look on his face to look like none was this 'victim' confronting had happened. "Yeah Monkey? What's up?"

Monkey frowned and motioned his hand. "Go on….. The victim was…."

Po's stomach and twisted into knots. The panda put on a smile. "Oh yeah, that…."

"Yeah, that." Crane replied. "Tell us who it was."

Po sighed. Well, now there was no going back either way. He felt nervous all of a sudden with everyone looking at him. His stomach was twisted up into knots, his heart was pounding slightly, and he felt like his underarms were sweating.

"Po," Tigress interrupted his thoughts. "You don't have to tell us if you're uncomfortable." She said softly.

The rest of the Furious Five frowned at Tigress. They wanted to know who the victim was! Tigress simply gave the crane, monkey, insect, and snake a warning look.

Po's eyebrows were up in surprise. Tigress thought he looked uncomfortable? Well, he wasn't going to back down now! He wasn't supposed to get nervous over a dream! He was going to tell everyone and that was that!

"Oh Tigress, I'm fine." The others turned their attention back to the nervous panda. "I just was thinking of something. But yeah, hehe," Po laughed. "Back to the point…. The victim was-"

But at the very second before Po told what the others were anticipating someone walked into the room and interrupted the Dragon Warrior from his dream telling. The person was none other than Grand Master Shifu.

"Students, it is time to train for the day." The red panda said.

Everyone in turn just stared at their Master. Po was just about to tell them who 'her' was!

Master Shifu squinted at the six of them curiously. After a few seconds, he nodded and motioned the students to rise. "Come." He said. "We have important things to discuss."

Reluctantly, everyone sitting at the breakfast table stopped what they were doing (which was staring at Master Shifu and Po), bowed, and followed Shifu to the training hall.

Po stood up from the table with a relieved smile on his face. That was getting intense. He decided he didn't want to tell anyone who the victim really was. At least, not Monkey, Mantis, Master Shifu, Crane, or Viper….

The giant panda admitted to himself that he was very grateful for Master Shifu's intrusion, for he couldn't bear to describe Tigress' horror-stricken face in his dark nightmare.

* * *

"So Tigress…." Mantis asked. "Are you still going to spar Po?"

The seven warriors were walking up the pathway to the Training Hall. The air was a bit cool and breezy for a summer day. But after all, it was only nine o'clock in the morning. Usually, they would be walking up the Training Hall path around seven, but because of the strange wakeup earlier this morning, they were a bit behind schedule.

Master Shifu was leading everyone up in the in front of the line. Behind him was Tigress. Following her was Po, Viper, Monkey, and then Crane. Mantis was riding on Po's shoulder, giving the panda a nudge as he asked Tigress about Po's death sentence.

Po gave Mantis a shocked look. "Hey!" he whispered into Mantis' antenna. "What are trying to do to me buddy? Kill me?"

The insect, panda, and others awaited Tigress' answer.

"No," the feline replied. "We were all making puns and jokes. I guess that means I can spar any of you if I wanted." She turned around and stopped making the others stop in their place as well. She winked at Mantis and glared at the insect. "Any of you…"

Mantis gulped. He didn't see that coming. "Let's hope we don't spar then…." He stifled out. Making everyone chuckle in the process.

Viper sighed. "I wonder what the surprise is…"

"Well," Crane said. "I hope that it's something to help us with our certification this weekend."

Tigress nodded. "I hope so too Crane. The two of us will need as many tips and tricks as we can to help us for our Level Three."

"I hope it's a supply of new weapons." Monkey chirped in. Oh, how that Monkey loved his weapons.

"I don't know about you guys." Mantis joined in. "But I kind of want a new obstacle course for the Training Hall. It would be great to have a new kind of course to run through."

"Or," Viper replied. "Some new approach to the obstacle course. Like a game or something."

"You'll just have to wait and see students." Master Shifu chuckled at his students eagerness.

"I think I might have an idea of what it is…." Po said in a sing-song voice.

Shifu's eyes widened. "Panda…" the red panda scowled.

"What?! I can't take a guess or think about what I want it to be?" the Dragon Warrior complained.

"No Po," Shifu retorted. "I'm afraid you can't."

"Seriously?!" Po groaned. "I can't guess?!"

"NO!" everyone shouted.

"Aww…." Po pouted. "It would have been something cool!

"Like what?!" Monkey questioned.

"Monkey!" Crane gasped. "Why did you say that?!"

"Huh?" the primate scratched his shaved head.

"Well," Po started. He had distracted everyone from paying attention to him. But now, the spotlight was on him."

"Po…" Tigress growled loudly. "Don't you dare…."

The panda smiled at his friends and laughed evilly. "The surprise could be a-"

"Shut up!"

* * *

The six proud warriors and comrades walked up the steps to the world famous Training Hall and waited for Master Shifu to unlock the building.

The red panda unlocked the carved doors and strolled into the outworn corridor.

The panda wave master stood in the corner, waiting to be kicked by a youngster.

The worn out weapons from the years stood perfectly in place.

The Field of Fiery Death was silent, waiting to burst into flames from its first attacker.

The hall was beginning to give out; they needed tune-ups more often than usual. It had been there for decades though, and each master had a favorite obstacle built to his or her strengths and weakness'.

The scratches on the wooden clubs, the squeaking of the turntable arms, the rolling of the jade turtle shell, these we're all memories of each master's journey.

Shifu sighed as remembrance of his student's past and present flowed into his mind.

_A snow leopard and his Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors trying to show his Master that he was the one. The one to achieve greatness._

_A young female tiger and her Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Obviation trying to show her Master that she was trying her best….trying to find love and approval…_

_A crane and his Jade Tortoise of Wisdom trying to show his Master he was confident in himself._

_A golden monkey and his Seven-Talon Rings doing his best not to laugh at his own mistakes._

_A serpent with her Field of Fiery Death trying to be brave and not gasp when the flames hit her._

_A praying mantis and his Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors trying not to get mad when he messed up._

_And a giant panda and his wave-master trying to show his Master and The Furious Five that he wasn't a clumsy, stupid panda that did nothing that ate._

Shifu chuckled at the last memory. These were all of his past and present students. Looking at the training hall made him bring back memories of his pupils. Sometimes the past would make him feel bitter, miserable, and sad. But other memories such as Po's first few days here at the palace made his heart smile, laugh, and burst into joy. So scratch that, this wasn't just the students journey, it was his too.

The red panda smiled, this was his family…..this was his home.

* * *

**A/N: So yeah! That's about it! What did you think? I know… it was kind of boring…. But like I said in the last chapter… I'm trying to stretch everything out so that the story is longer. Trust me… the next chapter will be WAY more interesting!**

**What did you think of Po's trial? Should he have told everyone? What's going to happen at training?! Will there be a spar? And what in the world is the surprise?! We will find out within the next two chapters!**

**So please check out my KFP video on youtube! I'm telling you, it's the awesomeness thing in the universe!**

**Please review! All of you have been SO kind with all of your reviews. I would have NEVER gotten this far in reviews without you readers! I thank you for that… So yeah…who's going to be the first reviewer? And who's going to be the 150****th**** reviewer? It all starts…..NOW!**

**Thanks!**

**Catch you later!**


	11. Tips & Training For a Future Generation

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back with a new chapter! **

**Just wanted to let everyone know that I am sorry for the delay, things are CRAZY! I know, bad excuse, but it's true! I want everyone to know that I am NEVER going to leave a story unfinished, that's not nice to you guys or all the time and effort I have already put into this story! I think I've been working on this story for almost a whole year now! That's when I originally posted it on Nick, last April.**

**So yeah, NEVER going to quit, it just take a while to update the story! Sorry!**

**I also want to give a shout out to anisaja! Thank you for giving me that 150****th**** review! It means SO much! So yes, everyone 200****th****, 250****th****, 300****th****, and so on reviewer will get a shout out! And then, since I am giving a shout out, please check out anisaja's stories! They are incredibly sweet! I love them!**

**I know it has been 3 weeks since the last update. But yesterday, I got some inspiration to write more because yesterday I went to a taekwondo tournament! It was my first time competing as a 1****st**** degree black belt. It was a class A tournament as it was REALLY big. I lost my forms but I got 3****rd**** place in sparring! Yay! So, I have since I won, I have been abiding by my promise I told myself. **

**Whenever I win in sparring, this is what I put on my trophy:**

**First Name "Tigress" Last Name**

**Oh yeah! I'm Tigress!**

**Hehe, I'm talking too much….. here's the new chapter! Enjoy! Please read and review!**

* * *

_Chapter Eleven: Tips & Training for a Future Generation _

* * *

"_Training is a time to work…" Shifu often said to his students. "It is a time to improve you." _

"_And is training a time to show your awesome skills?" Po had asked hopefully the day Shifu had given his students this lecture._

_The red panda had slowly smiled and replied simply. "Yes, it is Po. Training in this miraculous hall is a time a show off your 'awesome' skills." _

* * *

Now, after millions of trips to the outworn hall, tons of battles with evil villains, and sparring duels between the students, here they all were, ready to show off, perfect, and work on their 'awesome' skills.

The moment in the hall of peaceful and tranquil, yet the atmosphere seemed on edge, daring the warriors to pace themselves for some kind of action. The seven animals stood there as if waiting for a sign, a sign to tell them to begin to work in the ancient hall.

Shifu patiently waited for that sign and then turned towards his six apprentices who were eagerly awaiting a command to follow.

"Alright everyone," the Grandmaster finally said. "Before we go over last minute details for the upcoming weekend, I would like you all to warm up for half an hour. Let up start with weapons." The red panda gestured to a wall filled with blades, sticks, and shiny contraptions. "You may go get your weapon of choice." He ordered.

"Yes Master Shifu." The panda, tiger, snake, crane, monkey, and insect bowed and then ran to get their fighting objects.

"I call this bo staff!" Mantis requested. The insect held up a stick that was at least twice his size that was supposed to be for a rabbit child.

"Mantis, there is no way you can use that staff." Viper disagreed.

"Yeah," Crane added. "That stick does seem a bit big for you." The avian said.

Mantis's small eyeballs widened. "Are you two calling me little?!" he demanded.

Crane and Viper looked taken aback, looked at each other and made that 'Oh no…' face.

You don't want to mess with Mantis…especially if it to deal with his size.

Oh my, what to do what to do….

Po chuckled and stepped in between the three quarreling creatures to reach his special Ssahnag Nats. "Okay you three, break it up…" he warned.

"I know, I know..." Mantis grinned. "I was just teasing them."

Crane and Viper let out a sigh and started chastising Mantis for his 'teasing'.

"Stop talking." Tigress interrupted. "Get to work."

* * *

The six eager students bounded back to their Master and curiously waited for instruction for their dangerous weapons.

"All right students, I see you have picked your weapons of choice." The red panda paused and stroked his beard. "Why don't we start with some practice drills on the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors?"

Tigress, Crane, Viper, Mantis, and Monkey bowed. "Yes Master." They obeyed.

But Po had a question on his mind. "Master Shifu?"

Shifu turned his gaze towards the Dragon Warrior and nodded. "Yes Po, what is it?"

The giant panda held up his pair of weapons ever so slightly. The panda's weapon was called a Ssahng Nat or as some people liked to call it, Kamas. The Kamas or Ssahng Nat, whatever you prefer was as tall as your average stick. But the thing was, it wasn't your average stick. At the top of the weapon was a curved blade, making the weapon look like a shear, a sickle, or a miniature Grim Reaper Scythe.

"Master, I know you want us to learn this weapon, but this weapon is Korean, not Chinese. Why do you still want us to learn this if it is located in a different country?"

Master Shifu grinned. "I'm glad you asked that Po. That's a very good question. You see here, this new weapon that you are trying to master is very useful."

Tigress stepped forward and pointed at the Kamas. "You said that these weapons are originally farming tools, correct Master?"

The Grand Master nodded. "Indeed Tigress."

Tigress smiled, obviously pleased with her memory of the history of the Kamas.

"As Master Tigress just said," Shifu continued. The panda took one of the Ssahng Nats out of Po's paw and held it. "These are and or were farming tools."

Shifu's students gazed in awe of the weapon's back round.

"The Korean farmers were peaceful, but when enemies came, they had no way to fight. The enemies took all their food and probably hurt some people along the way."

Everyone grimaced at the last sentence.

"So," the Grand Master went on, "The people finally were tired of their enemies oppressing them and they decided to learn how to fight."

"But Master," Crane interrupted. "Out of all the weapons the Korean farmers could choose from, why these? Why not a sword or staff?" the avian asked.

"Well, you see Crane." Shifu carried on. "They tried all of those weapons, but they never felt natural in their paws-"

"Or hooves," Po interjected.

"Yes Po. They could have had hooves."

"Or tails." The Dragon Warrior added.

"Or tails…" Shifu replied.

"Or they could have even had claws!" Po exclaimed at the thought of farmers having vicious claws spring out of their paws.

"Yes Po," Shifu was getting a bit irritated. He had to finish telling his students the history of the weapon so they could carry on with training. He had to hurry too; he couldn't keep the surprise waiting…

The red panda sighed. "If they had claws, they probably didn't have to learn how to fight. Now, as I was saying…"

Shifu lifted up the Kama for all to see and spoke. "The farmers soon realized that the tools that they used to harvest grain were the perfect weapon to defend themselves with."

"But why is that Master?" Viper asked. "How was a farming tool perfect? The Kama was used to just slice stalks of wheat to grind into grain."

"Yes Viper, that is exactly why it was perfect." Shifu answered.

Monkey scratched his half shaven head. "But what do you mean by perfect Master?

The students didn't even need for the red panda to speak; their Master just simply turned the weapon upside down and pointed to the blade which had a slightly brownish-red stain on it.

A brownish-red stain that had probably been blood.

"Not only had this weapon been fantastic shears, it also was a great weapon. It was not only a weapon that could not only chop down wheat, but cut into the flesh..."

The students nodded, taking note why this had been such a useful tool, whether it was for fighting or farming.

"So," Grand Master continued. "That is why the farmers picked this tool to fight with. Not only were they comfortable with it, but it still made them look peaceful when the enemies came around."

"Hehe," Po tittered uneasily from learning the reason why they were to learn this Korean weapon. "So when the enemies came, it must have looked like they were harvesting crops, but when they got close to the farmers, the farmers turned around and were all like WA-TAH!" The panda spun around, did a hook kick, and then did an eyes-throat stab with the Kama on his imaginary bad guy. His comrades chuckled at the panda's enthusiasm for the farmers.

"Exactly Po," Shifu praised. "That weapon was also a great strategy plan. And that is why I want you all to Master this weapon, even if it is a Korean weapon. That way, when we are teaching the next generation of Kung Fu Warriors, they will learn the use of this weapon and be able to use it and teach it as a self-defense to the Valley of Peace farmers so _our_ farmers can defend themselves too. Am I clear?" Grand Master questioned.

"Yes Master." They all confirmed in unison.

"Wow Master," Mantis commented. "Those Korean farmers sure were smart!"

"Yes Mantis." Shifu replied with a grin. "Yes, they were."

The seven creatures took a moment to think and take in the knowledge and skills that the Korean farmers had.

After a few seconds of quietness, the red panda cleared his throat. "Now, let's get to work!" he commanded.

* * *

The instructor of the six legendary warriors broke his students off into groups with same weapon and had them worked on their forms and various drills in the open section by The Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors. Monkey, Mantis, and Po were paired up with The Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors while Tigress, Crane, and Viper worked on their weapon free handily for an upcoming ceremony. As the students worked on their weapon, Grand Master Shifu checked and corrected his apprentices one by one. He watched his students work their way around the sharp dangers of the wooden mechanisms.

Monkey was quick and speedy and always, combining a kick in between his dodging from the wooden dragon spikey arms. But, sometimes, the golden snub-nosed monkey would just miss getting hit by his lifeless opponent and block with his wooden staff at the last second. Shifu studied the primate's technique. After a few minutes, he called out to Monkey to stop what he was doing.

Monkey turned around in confusion, not hearing his Master's command. "What?!" he screeched as he turned his back to his wooden warrior, resulting in a hit in the head from his opponent.

The monkey winced and touched his head. "Ouch..."

"What you are doing is quite good Monkey. Your dodging is very quick and clean." Shifu said. "But what you could do is watch your posture a bit."

Monkey bowed. "Thank you Master. I will do that."

"Good," Shifu continued. "What you could do to improve is to not duck too low, that way; you do not have to use your staff to save yourself."

"Oh thank you Master." Monkey nodded. "That should work better."

"Good Master Monkey." Shifu complimented. "You do that." The red panda went to go to check up on his next student. But then he paused, "You are also doing some very nice strikes with your weapon." He finished, and then the Grand Master walked off to check on Mantis.

Monkey smiled. "Thank you Master." He said in a small voice while focusing intently on his posture and staff.

* * *

Mantis, who was also working with the wooden staff, was speeding through the course. He was, in fact, so fast that you could barely see the 'little' insect fighting his way through the course.

But Master Shifu, after years, and I mean _years_ of watching his students work, he could see (or hear too, Shifu had big ears that could hear a pin drop.) the 'little' flaw Mantis was dealing with.

Mantis, unlike Monkey, saw Master Shifu beckoning to him and stopped his fight with the wooden warrior.

"Yes Master?" the praying mantis asked eagerly, he was hoping to get some good compliments from his work with his staff.

"Mantis," the Grand Master started. "I just love how you are working your way through the course with great speed and equal intensity."

Mantis nodded. "Thank you Master."

"But-" Shifu continued, but was off by his student.

"But what?" Mantis asked. "Am I going too fast?"

The red panda nodded. "I am not sure. Could you do strikes one through six for me please?"

"Yes Master." The insect obeyed.

Mantis got into his sparring stance and positioned his staff (thankfully he had switched to a smaller sized weapon) and did his fierce strikes.

Half-way between lines four and six Shifu told the praying mantis to stop what he was doing.

The Grand Master nodded. "I see (or hear) what the issue is."

"What is it Master?" Mantis asked.

"It seems to me that you are going a tab bit fast. You see, at the speed you are going, you are finding it hard to set yourself and your weapon for the low strike five and six. Here," Shifu scurried to the side of the room to get his own staff. When he came back, he positioned himself for strike four. "Follow me and slow down a bit." The red panda directed.

Then Shifu began to do lines, strikes, swings, or whatever you prefer to call them with strong power and intensity. Mantis followed his Master until he and Shifu were doing the moves in sync. Finally, Shifu stopped and ordered Mantis to do the whole fighting segment by himself. Mantis began slow, but then got faster and faster each time he did the strikes.

"Mantis, that was very well done." Shifu praised. "Wonderful job. Do you understand that now that you can do those two moves properly now, that your speed and intensity can now increase more? You are not using as much energy as you were before."

The insect nodded. "Yes Master. I can definitely tell the difference."

Shifu smiled. "Very good." He gestured to the wooden warrior. "Continue please until I am finished with the others."

Mantis bowed and began to face off with his lifeless opponent again as the Grand Master of the Jade Palace went to check up on his other students.

* * *

Po, the Dragon Warrior, was getting frustrated with his Kamas. Grr… they were so annoying! Every time he tried to strike at a different angle, the wooden obstacle would knock one or both of his Ssahng Nat(s) out of his paw.

About after the ninth millionth time his weapon(s) fell out of his grasp he called out for help. "Master Shifu! This weapon is getting on my nerves!"

Quick as a flash, Master Shifu was behind Po. "Hmm, I admire your perseverance Po." He said, causing Po to jump a bit.

"Thanks Shifu." Po nodded. "This is a ridiculously hard weapon! Hehe, it's kinda funny, regular weapons didn't feel natural to the farmers and this did. But regular weapons feel natural to me, but these Kamas feel so unnatural to me!"

Shifu chuckled very slightly, amused by the panda's humor. "Indeed Po. It is a very awkward weapon to master. But you will get used to it. It will all come to you in all good time."

Po made a face. "I sure hope so Shifu, cause it's really driving me crazy!"

The Grand Master reached out and grabbed one of the Dragon Warrior's weapons. "Here Po." Shifu did a horizontal slice with the Kama and then turned his wrist vertically very stiff and sharply. "You cannot use this weapon and fling around your wrist like you would for a stick or staff." He pointed to the blade. "If you turn the wrist, or break it as I like to say, you would have basically cut the wheat you were shearing into shreds, not stalks."

Po nodded, taking in all this new information.

"And then, you will also make a clean strike if you don't break the wrist." The smaller of the two pandas added.

"Right," Po confirmed. "So basically, I have to think like a farmer?" he asked.

Shifu chuckled. "Exactly Po, exactly..."

And with that, he walked off to the other side of the room to check on Viper. While walking away, the red panda's delicate ears heard. "Think like a farmer, think like a farmer Po…."

* * *

Viper was having a nice time with her nun-chucks. Holding them by the tail, she would jump straight up in the air and twirl the weapon, making a nicely effective figure eight strike. Being a snake and all, she could twist and turn to make all sorts flexible ways to

attack for imaginary opponent.

She was having problem though, sometimes, the rope connecting to the two other parts of the weapon was getting caught her body. At first, she thought it was her hair flowers. So she took just a few minutes to adjust them a bit so her nun-chucks wouldn't get caught.

But even after doing that, she still noticed that the weapon was still catching on to something. Luckily, Master Shifu saw the problem.

"You are doing a beautiful job with this weapon." He had told her. "But, the weapon is catching and looping itself around you." He pointed out. "Try to be more sharp with the weapon so you can control it a bit more. That will help with the handling of the nun-chucks and your flow."

"Oh goodness Master." Viper said gratefully. "I was wondering why the weapon was catching on! I'll do just that!"

Viper got in her ready stance, and then pounced into the air, and made her triangle strike more sharp, the result was rewarding, nothing got caught onto her body or hair ribbons!

"Wonderful job Viper," Shifu complimented. "Keep on doing that until I say stop."

Viper smiled. "Yes, Master Shifu, thank you." And then the green tree snake continued to fight in the air.

* * *

"Good Crane! Now put a bit more power and intensity into it!" Shifu praised and suggested.

Crane usually had a hard time working with weapons; he was made for flying, not holding things. But over time, the avian had grown to like a simple weapon, a stick.

The crane would use his wings to direct the air to his weapon, creating a strong energy between him, his stick, and his imaginary opponent. Once the air was at a certain momentum and speed, Crane would glide to wherever his imaginary bad guy was and do a quick stab or so.

Master Shifu was very pleased that Crane had found a weapon to his liking, he was very at the thought that the avian had managed to use the ability to hold the weapons in his talons and fight.

"Thank you Master Shifu." Crane bowed to his Master.

"I am very pleased to see that you have grown to like weapons a bit more Master Crane." Shifu complimented. "But remember, you are fighting a villain, use the focus and intensity you usually use when you fight with this weapon."

Crane grinned, obviously happy with his Grand Master's praise. "Yes Master, I'll get crackin'!" The avian replied with enthusiasm.

* * *

"Excellent, Tigress!"

Tigress did not dare to smile. She was still working on her fight after all; she could not smile at her imaginary bandits. Tigress was fierce, intensity in her eyes; nothing was going to stop her from defeating these bad guys in her mind. She twirled around and did a 'kill eighty bandits and around the world' strike and yelled aggressively. She finished her form with her arms spread out in a victory stance.

"Tigress, that was very well done." Shifu praised. The red panda stepped closer to the tiger and made eye contact with her. "There is one thing I would recommend on working on."

Tigress returned the gaze and stared intently into her father's blue eyes and if he was another bad guy. "What is that Master?"

"You are holding your breath."

"I am?"

"Yes, you are."

Tigress smirked playfully and rolled her eyes. "It must have been one of the imaginary bandits, he must have gotten on my nerves." the feline explained.

"Are you sure about that?" her elder asked.

"Sure as can be…" she replied.

The Grand Master stifled a laugh at his daughter's solution as his apprentice hid a smug look on her face. The red panda and south Chinese tiger looked at each other for about seven seconds and then burst out laughing.

So yes, training is a time to improve yourself, to show off your 'awesomeness', to teach the next generation to defend themselves, and also…. It's a time to have a little fun.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! 11****th**** chapter! How was the ending? Was it bad? I can't decide….**

**What did you think of all the techniques I used for everyone's weapon? Good, bad, nicely detailed? **

**The Kamas or Ssahng Nats (Pronounced "Song Knots") are traditional Korean weapons. The Ssahng Nats are weapons that used to be farming tools. They look like sticks with curved blades. They were used to crop grain. When you use the Ssahng Nats, you always have to have a straight wrist; you only break it (tilt) when you are twirling the weapons.**

**And if you are wondering if these are real weapons or not….they are! I use them in taekwondo. Um, not to hurt anyone's feelings, but I HATE these weapons! I do not look forward to the day I have to do the 2****nd**** degree form with them! I can't twirl them! I prefer the nun-chucks, stick, or sword….I can twirl those….**

**I might have been wrong about the history of the Kamas. I couldn't find any kind of back round for that weapon, so you can criticize me if I'm wrong…**

**So yeah, hoped you liked this chapter! So sorry it was late, things just get busy!**

**Thanks for reading this chapter, it is appreciated very much. But, if feel like being extra, super, generous today, please leave a review. You can say whatever you like… But PLEASE leave a review, it ALWAYS makes my day… Remember, every 50****th**** reviewer will get a shout out!**

**Hopefully I'll update sooner next time!**

**Catch you later!**


	12. Teaching the Skills that Matter

**A/N: Hello! Yes, I'm still here! I am SO SORRY about the late update; I know you all enjoy this story. I'm sorry it took so long. I have excuses though. I got sick, then a whole bunch of other things happened and long story short, I had the **_**worst spring break ever. **_**I really didn't even get a spring break…..**

**And then I know a whole bunch of you are going 'Wait, I updated my story and now all of a sudden she updated her story but she didn't review my story!' I'm sorry, but I've been so slow with everything! I always want to make sure I have enough time to review each story nicely. Your story is on my 'To read' list.**

**And plus I realized that I've been kind of out of Kung Fu Panda! So I NEEDED to write this chapter so I can get back into it! HELP! KUNG FU PANDA MUST NOT LEAVE MY HEART AND MIND!**

**This chapter is a little bit slow, but within the next two chapters the suspense will be back! Please review! I LOVE getting your reviews!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I do not own Kung Fu Panda….I really wish I did!**

* * *

_Chapter Twelve: Teaching the Skills that Matter_

* * *

After seeing the good progress in his student's work, Shifu directed his apprentices to go take a seat and relax for a few minutes before moving on to information for the upcoming weekend.

Po, tired from training, wobbled towards the back of the training hall where he, his comrades, and their Master usually meditated. The thin paper that was leaned against the wall was decorated with a peaceful scene of the mountains. The beautiful painting shook a bit at the panda's urge to relax as Po collapsed on the floor. Po let out a breath of relief as the rest of his friends sat down beside him. "Wow," he huffed. "Those drills really flew by fast…"

His fellow students nodded. Indeed, it had gone by fast. After working with their weapons by themselves, Shifu had the six warriors work on their fighting skills with their weapons on the Field of Fiery Death. The drill was extremely difficult for them to accomplish, even for Shifu!

Po had sparred with Tigress. The drill required a lot of focus. Po couldn't just fight with Tigress and have all his attention on the feline; he also had to look out for his surroundings. One second the panda would be fine, but then the next he could be burned by the fire that shot out of the obstacle's platform! Po had to watch out as Tigress aggressively swung her broad sword at him. He had learned to successfully dodge out of the way and then strike his Kamas while jumping to the side of a hot explosion. Po was a little jealous though; he would never jump as high as Tigress did when she had to leap away from the fiery danger…

Then, after sparring with the heat on (literately), Shifu had them all do a free spar on The Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion. All I have to say is that Mantis didn't have a fun time sparring Tigress…

Now, here they were, time for their last practice test before Certification Testing.

It is really funny how time does fly. When you're younger you want the days to go fast so you can get that present from Santa Claus. But alas, the days go slow. When you're older everything comes and goes so fast you feel like you just want to shout at the world 'Slow down!'. There are 1,444 minutes in a day….cherish them. Spend time with the ones you love, the ones you care about. Spend your time wisely. Because, one day you might realize that the things you did distracted you from doing something beautiful in your life. Please know that the way you spend your time will affect you and others. Cherish the precious moments when you make your little brother laugh (Which is really rare for me.), the happy moments with your grandparents, the wisdom you learn from your parents. They love you, cherish them.

* * *

"Alright students, gather around." Grandmaster Shifu called. Shifu sat down next to his students as they all scooted in closer to form a small circle.

"Are we all ready to begin?" the red panda asked. The six pupils nodded, ready to start the exercise.

"Good," Shifu continued. He gestured to the male warriors. "Do you have your papers ready?" It wasn't really a question. Po, Crane, Monkey, and Mantis all knew that the homework was required to be handed in today whether it was done or not. But thankfully, all of the papers were done and the four men gave their Master their assignments.

"Thank you." Shifu replied as Mantis handed him his studies. "Now that we have that out of the way, let us first begin with the 10 Class Management Skills. I hope that you all have taken the time to memorize them." He paused. "Remember, these Skills are very important in life. They can help you with anything like raising children or having to communicate with someone. It is important to know these Skills." he said.

He leaned in towards his students. "Are you ready?" he questioned.

The six students nodded, but fifty percent of the group looked a little uneasy. Shifu rested his paws on his lap. "You may begin."

Then Grandmaster Shifu's six apprentices recited in unison the 10 Class Management Skills:

* * *

**1. S**et mood and tone.

**2. C**reate a positive climate.

**3. U**se personal approach and individual contact.

**4. S**et direct goals.

**5. G**ive thoughtful feedback.

**6. R**einforce positive behavior of the students.

**7. G**ive realistic praise.

**8. G**ive positive correction.

**9. R**efer the students by name.

**T**each the concept of personal victory.

* * *

When they had finished, the six creatures looked up for approval from Shifu.

The Grandmaster nodded. "That was very well done students."

Tigress, Crane, and Viper smiled and sighed with relief while Po, Monkey, and Mantis cheered with delight.

"Would anyone like to share how they accomplished to memorize the Skills?" the red panda asked.

The Dragon Warrior raised his paw. "I memorized it by making an acronym out of it: **S.C.U.S.G.R.G.G.R.T.**"

Shifu chuckled. "How do you pronounce that?"

"Like this: Scus-grr-grr-ate." Po replied.

There were, of course, other ways to memorize the Skills. Tigress read them over and over and over and over and over again until they sunk into her mind, Shifu had made a song with his wooden flute to help him remember, Monkey and Mantis had made the Skills into a game, and Crane and Viper had quizzed each other until they knew every word and Skill by heart.

Shifu grinned at his students. "Congratulations. You have memorized them very well. But do you know what all of these Management Skills mean?"

The room suddenly went quiet. The students might have memorized the 10 Class Management Skills, but they weren't prepared to answer that question!

"Well, how about the first Skill, _Set mood and tone_? What does that mean?" Shifu asked.

Then, very slowly, Viper raised her tail. "_Set mood and tone_ is setting a good mood and a nice tone for your class that you are teaching."

"Good Viper." Shifu praised. "Now, how would you demonstrate setting a good mood and tone?" the red panda paused. "Here, everyone stand up and I will demonstrate setting the mood and tone."

Everyone did as ordered and stood up in a single file line as if they were taking a Kung Fu class.

"Here is how you set the mood and tone." Shifu said. The red panda helped his students go on places he wanted them to be and called the student to stand still. "Hello students," he said cheerfully yet stern. "Today we are going to go over the 10 Class Management Skills." Then he stopped. "Do you see students? That is how you would set the mood and tone. Can someone show me how_ not_ to set the mood and tone?"

Mantis hopped up to the spot. He slouched and looked to the ground, not looking at anyone. Then the insect started talking very quietly. "_Okay then, today we are going to do our form and other stuff..._"

"Yes," Shifu said. "That is exactly how you should _not_ set the mood and tone. Do you see how Mantis was not addressing you properly? He also did not project his voice, he mumbled. But, at the same time, you do not want to project your voice too much and sound angry, that would scare everyone. Thank you for demonstrating Mantis."

Mantis bowed and went back to his spot.

"How about Skill number two? What is its purpose and meaning?" The Grandmaster questioned.

Viper raised her tail again. "Isn't _Create a positive climate_ a lot like _Set mood and tone_?"

Shifu nodded. "Yes Viper, it is pretty much the same. It means that you address your students and make the area you are teaching have a good atmosphere. That way your students feel very comfortable while you are instructing them. Does everyone understand _Create a positive climate?_"

The student nodded their heads in comprehension.

"Good." Shifu continued. "Would anyone like to demonstrate Skill number three, _Use personal approach and individual contact_?"

Po raised his paw and ran up to demonstrate. "For number three, you have to use personal approach. Personal approach is personally going up to a student to teach them."

Po walked up to Tigress. "Here Tigress," he said. "Can you do two kicks for me?" he asked as he raised up two fingers.

Tigress obeyed and did one front kick and one round kick.

"Very nice Tigress!" Po praised. "Those kicks were very nice and crisp. Give me a high five!"

Tigress frowned. "Are you sure about that?"

Po the panda shrugged. "Sure, I can take it. Give me double high fives!"

Tigress shrugged herself and threw two high fives towards Po's paws. The giant panda then winced at the impact of Tigress' very strong and tough paws. "Ouch." He murmured.

"Po, that was splendid!" Shifu complimented. "That was a very well done demonstration of _Use personal approach and individual contact, _which was approaching Tigress and giving her double high fives. At the same time, you also took care of four other Skills too!"

Po looked up from examining his paws and his mouth fell open in surprise. "I did?!" he gasped.

"Yes, and you did it very well." Shifu replied. "When you said Tigress' name that was using Skill number nine: _Refer students by name._ When you told her to do two kicks that was Skill number four: _Set direct goals_. When you told Tigress what a great job she did on the kicks, that was using number five and number seven: _Give thoughtful feedback _and_ Give realistic praise_."

"Wow!" Po exclaimed. "I didn't even know I did all of those! It wasn't even that hard!"

* * *

Moving on to the next Skill, _Reinforce positive behavior of the students, _Shifu ordered his students to act like children and run wild.

That was no problem for Po, Mantis, and Monkey. The three warriors had a lot of fun with that demonstration.

They all started chasing each other, calling each other names, and poking around with weapons. Crane shrugged and started flying while shouting. "I believe I can fly!", Viper started to dance around the hall, and Tigress, who had a hard time breaking protocol, started doing a bad habit she did when she was a cub, biting her claws.

After a few minutes of acting crazy, Shifu ordered the wild 'children' to stand still. Tigress, of course, obeyed. But the others did not. Well, they started to calm down a bit, but they were still being crazy.

Then Master Shifu pointed to Tigress. "Look how Tigress is doing such a wonderful job at standing still like I asked." The red panda walked over and patted Tigress' arm. "Very good job Tigress."

The others, seeing that Shifu had said 'Good job' to Tigress, suddenly stopped what they were doing and stood still as well.

A few seconds later, Shifu chuckled. "See?" he said. "When you highlight a student, everyone else will want to be praised too and will do what you asked and stop being crazy." He eyed the insect, panda, and monkey. "Do you understand Skill number six?"

The six warriors bowed, "Yes Master." They responded.

"Wonderful." The red panda said. "I need a volunteer for Skill number eight: _Give positive correction._"

Monkey, excited to participate in another activity, raised his hand and then ran up to Master Shifu for instructions. "What do I get to do Master?" the primate asked.

"I need you to a front kick for me, but I want you to do it incorrect." Shifu replied.

Monkey's mouth gaped open. "I can do it wrong and I won't get chastised for it?" he asked.

Shifu made a face. "I don't do that all the time!" he complained. "Just do the front kick wrong." He ordered.

"Yes Master." Monkey replied.

The primate then got into a stance, picked up his leg, and kicked.

"Very good Monkey," Shifu said. "See how Monkey did his front kick nice and strong but let his hands get out of their guard?" the red panda asked. "Here is how you would give positive correction."

The Grandmaster looked at Monkey. "Monkey," he said. "That was a very good front kick. I like your power. But you let your hands drop away from your head. Let's work on that. Can you get back in the awesome stance you were in?"

Monkey obeyed and got back in his 'Awesome' stance. Then the monkey picked up his leg and kicked with his hands up and close to his head.

Shifu nodded. "Thank you for being the student Monkey. Go back to your spot now." He commanded. Then he gestured back to Monkey. "Do you see, my apprentices how I gave positive correction? This is what we were talking about at breakfast. The term Positive-Correct-Positive. Do you remember?"

The six students nodded in acknowledgement.

"First," Shifu continued. "I told Monkey that I liked his power, then I stated what he needed to work on, and finally, I told him I liked his stance he was in. Do you understand how I did Positive-Correct-Positive and _Give positive correction_?" he asked.

No questions were asked.

"The final Skill is_ Teach the concept of personal victory_." Shifu stated. "So, when you begin a class, you set a goal, and when you reach the goal, you celebrate a personal victory. Let me give you an example." Shifu walked up to Po, Mantis, and Monkey.

"Our goal was to memorize the 10 Class Management Skills. Today, we reached that goal. When you three all started cheering when I said you did 'A job well done.', that was celebrating personal victory." Shifu exclaimed. "Do you understand how important this last Skill is?" the red panda questioned.

Everyone replied in unison: "Yes Master."

"Good," Shifu praised. "We have now accomplished the goal of memorizing and comprehending the 10 Class Management Skills. Why don't we celebrate?" he suggested.

The seven creatures looked at each other in silent agreement. Then, in that moment, the warriors started shouting, screaming, dancing, and running around wild in personal victory.

* * *

**A/N: There you have it! Yay! I hope you liked it!**

**If you are wondering where I got all this information from, I get it from my taekwondo school! **

**So yes, the Certification Testing is real, it's in May!**

**The 10 Class Management Skills are real! Those are all ways we memorize them. My instructor made it into a song, her children do the S.C.U.S.G.R.G.G.R.T., and I think the way I'm going to memorize them is by writing them into a story! (Haha! I just did it!)**

**There is more to come with the whole Certification Testing thing! Keep your eyes out for the surprise in the next chapter!**

**Please review! It really does mean a lot to **_**any**_** author. **_**YOUR **_**reviews keep us going. So, if you love this story or **_**any**_** story, please review, favorite, and follow!**

**Catch you later!**


	13. Styles to Master

**A/N: Hi! Yes, I'm alive! I've just been busy!**

**Yes, I'm still behind on reading some stories, but don't worry, I'll get to them soon!**

**Thank you everyone who has supported me as a writer. It really means a lot. Thank you for your support, reviews, favorites, and follows….**

**Please enjoy this new chapter. I am a bit worried about my characters though….I think a few of them sound a bit OOC. What do you think?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda nor the facts about the Kung Fu Fighting Styles….**

* * *

_Chapter Thirteen: Styles to Master_

* * *

Po staggered, out of breath, and thumped back onto the floor where he and the others had been sitting before they had "celebrated in personal victory".

"I think….. I'm done…." The panda gulped a breath of air. "Celebrating…..personal victory." He huffed.

Tigress quickly joined him; she was, as well, done with running wild. She didn't enjoy running around like a child as some of her comrades did.

A little while after, Crane and Viper sat down too, exhausted from the training session.

Shifu stood in front of them with an amused look on his face. He was pleased that his students could still let loose and run wild here and there. The Grandmaster raised his paw and hit his staff on the floor.

"Monkey and Mantis, come. That is enough." He commanded.

The two rambunctious students stopped chasing each other around the hall and obeyed. They looked a bit happy to stop "celebrating". Perspiration was coming from their foreheads in exhaustion.

Finally, all of the students, master included, took a seat on the wooden floor.

"Now students," Shifu whispered, making the apprentices lean in with curiosity. "I would like you to go take a break and enjoy some water to get your brains flowing again."

Everyone nodded their heads and made slight chuckles.

"Good," Shifu said. "Go now. I am going to take the liberty to get the surprise ready."

The students (Po especially) heaved a breath of excitement, making butterflies swim around in their stomachs.

Who knew what the surprise could be? Whatever was planned must be extremely exciting for Shifu to reveal.

Po, even though he had been teasing, playing around, and guessing about the big surprise, actually had no idea what it could be. He hoped it would be a challenge that he and his friends all had to conquer…

Reluctant to get up from his seat on the floor, Po groaned from soreness in his arms, stood up, and scampered with his friends to the small side room that they usually rested after a long day of training.

Po got out some small glasses, poured water into them, and served the beverages to his comrades.

As they took a break, the six teammates chatted amongst themselves about the upcoming weekend.

"So what is the Certification Testing like?" Po questioned. This was going to be the panda's very first time at the Certification Testing. He didn't know what to expect.

"Well," Crane started. "It's very challenging when you first get there, they make you do drills and hard-work out sessions until you feel like you're going to drop dead." The avian chuckled, remembering his first time at the Certification Camp.

Po gulped. He didn't like working out until he felt like he was going to drop dead….

Monkey saw his buddy's uneasiness. "Don't worry Po. It's easier than it seems. It is nothing more than the Dragon Warrior can handle!"

Po smiled. He could always count on Monkey to encourage his spirit. "Thanks buddy." He said.

Crane took a sip of the cool liquid and continued on. "Throughout the whole time you're there, you will be getting prepared for the big testing you have to do."

Po nodded. "Sounds like a challenge…"

Viper put her patterned tail on Po's shoulder. "It's really fun Po. You learn so much in the three days you're there."

It was true; so much knowledge was to be taken in at the Certification Testing. All kinds of new drills, new techniques, skills, leadership training, and discipline were to be learned all in three days. No matter what happened at the Testing in the next few days, Po and his friend were going to have to use perseverance and keep on going no matter what challenges were ahead….

"Tigress," Viper asked. "When are we leaving for the Certification Testing?"

The Certification Testing was held at the Masters Council in Gongmen City. Since the Testing was held in that location, the team had to make sure they packed plenty of food and supplies for the long and hard journey ahead.

Tigress nodded in response. "We are to leave early tomorrow morning." She confirmed.

"Man, I can't believe we have to go back to Gongmen City this weekend to test. Haven't we had enough traveling?" Mantis grumbled.

It had been a very draining past few weeks. The team had traveled to Gongmen City to defeat Lord Shen. As if that wasn't tiring enough, they had to help clean wreckage out of the Gongmen City Harbor, and then make the hard journey back to the Valley of Peace. The Dragon Warrior and The Furious Five had done all that going back and forth within one month. Now, they had to go back to the city for the Certification Camp.

"Oh, stop complaining Mantis!" Crane scolded. "Testing is always an interesting experience. Plus, this is a very special year for Tigress and I. We're going to be certified instructors!"

Viper sighed. "I just hope we'll be able to make it to Gongmen City. With all the wood and metal in the water, it might be hard to get through on our boat. That would be awful if we won't be able to test!"

"The cleanup should be done already." Tigress said. "We cleaned up most of it before we left the city. But if there is still more work to be done, I suppose that we can stay after our testing and contribute a bit more."

The room exploded with complaints.

The primate put his hands in the air. "We already helped!" Monkey groaned.

"We can't do that on top of helping the lower rank trainees!" Mantis interjected. "Helping the lower ranks are so difficult! They don't know what to do!" he banged his 'thingies' on the table.

Po didn't seem as upset as his buddies, but he gave the feline a pouty face. "Do we have to?" he questioned.

Tigress stopped them all. "What is wrong with you men? Where is the warrior in you?" she confronted.

The three men immediately shut their mouths and turned off their grumbling words.

The tiger cocked her head in approval of their silence. "Much better… Thank you."

She tugged at a bandage from the previous battle and continued on. "We are going to lend a hand, even if we already have. No ifs, ands, or buts, we have to show respect, honor, loyalty, and integrity to Gongmen City and to its Masters."

She took her gaze off of Po, Monkey, and Mantis and raised her eyebrows at Crane.

"_We especially_ have to do so if we are to be fully certified." She reminded.

Crane nodded shakily, nervous suddenly from Tigress' cold and stern stare. She was very serious about this stuff.

After a few seconds of intense silence from their leader, she spoke:

"Am I clear about everything I just said?" she demanded.

The others silently nodded in comprehension.

No one else spoke as they quietly sipped their water, pondering about the things Tigress had just told them to do.

Setting a good example was a very important thing in the art of, well, everything. Tigress had just asked them to show loyalty, honor, respect, and integrity to the villagers and Masters of Gongmen City. That meant that if there were to be some wreckage still left in the City Harbor (Po hoped there wouldn't be any.), they would have to help clean up no matter what, even if they hated doing it….

Soon after thinking, Master Shifu told his students it was time to run through the final pre-certification test.

In order to test at Certification Headquarters, Po had to have one hundred hours of helping, teaching, and running classes. It was hard work. The panda had to do one hundred hours of bowing a class in and out and showing the children new techniques. It all had to be done before the children tested for their new belt. It took a lot of time and effort to teach.

Since Po was not yet a Level One like Monkey, Mantis, or Viper, he was not allowed to control a class just yet. But sometimes, when his friends were running a class and he was helping, they sometimes would let him lead the forms or sparring segments all by himself.

At his Certification Testing this weekend, Po was going to have the opportunity of teaching a class all by himself! As exciting as that sounded, there was a catch. The Dragon Warrior had to teach a class all by himself…_in front of judges_. Scary, right?

Since Po was testing for Level One, he had to teach four styles of Kung Fu. There were twelve Kung Fu styles total:

* * *

**LEVEL ONE**

* * *

_**RABBIT STYLE**_

"Rabbit Style fighters hop around and appear to be scared. Masters of Rabbit style are sneaky fighters. Some legendary ninja have been masters of this style. Rabbit Style fighters use their powerful legs to do leaping kick-attacks. They are good at tripping opponents. Other fighters often find themselves on the ground before they even realize it."

_**PANDA STYLE**_

"Panda Style is the newest of all the twelve Kung Fu styles. It was invented by (Hehe, yours truly...) Master Po himself. Students of the Panda Style rarely attack first. They make their opponents tired with a strong 'Belly' defense, and then they attack with surprise moves that appear to almost to be an accident. Masters of Panda Style joke and tease their opponents while they fight."

_**VIPER STYLE**_

"Viper Style is fluid and deadly. Vipers move only slightly to avoid attacks, which miss by inches. They wrap around their opponent's arms and legs and strike with deadly speed and accuracy at weak spots on the opponent's body. Students of Viper Style are very difficult to hit. The Viper Style technique is led by Master Viper."

_**CRANE STYLE**_

"Crane Technique is considered by many to be the most beautiful of styles. It uses sweeping circular motions with the arms, tall stances with high whirling kicks, and counter attacks with the crane fist. Crane Style relies on balance and it is almost entirely defensive. Practitioners of Crane Style are especially skilled with the fan weapon and double knives."

* * *

**LEVEL TWO**

* * *

_**TIGER STYLE**_

"Tiger Style is fierce and aggressive, with powerful strikes and fast attack combos. There is no waiting, and little defense in this style. Opponents of the Tiger Style are often intimidated and overwhelmed. Tigers are also fluid, flexible and graceful. They are direct and have a strong sense of justice. Master Tigress is the leader of Tiger Style in the Valley of Peace."

_**LEOPARD STYLE**_

"Leopard Style is not direct like Tiger Style, yet it is just as fierce. Leopards stalk their prey with patience, waiting until just the right moment. Leopard Style fighters hang back, blocking, dodging, and testing with false attacks. As soon as Leopard fighters see an opening, they leap in with great ferocity to deal rapid, deadly blows."

_**MANTIS STYLE**_

"Mantis Style has super low stances, and it uses the lightning fast strikes of the Praying Mantis. It is especially good for fighting larger opponents. Students of the Mantis Style use hooked mantis-claws to trap kicks and punches instead of attacking head on, and to redirect the force of the opponent."

_**MONKEY STYLE**_

"Monkey Style is quick, tricky and unpredictable. It focuses on surprise and on fooling the opponent with false attacks and acting. It is energetic and very acrobatic; using flips, spins, and jumps in its fighting. Students of Monkey Style are particularly skilled with the staff. Master Monkey is the current leader of Monkey Style."

* * *

**LEVEL THREE**

* * *

_**TORTOISE STYLE**_

"Tortoise Style was developed by the great Master Oogway. It is the most internal of all styles, relying more on inner chi power than on body movements. Tortoise Style has smooth, slow, flowing movements perfect in their balance (reminiscent of Tai Chi). Those who choose to master this style must find great inner peace before beginning down this path."

_**EAGLE STYLE**_

"Eagle Style is an ancient and secret technique. There have been very few Eagle Style students or masters. Eagle Style uses powerful double punches, the eagle piercing screech, and attack the neck of opponents. Eagle masters are said by some to briefly transform into fearsome giant eagles when attacking."

_**DRAGON STYLE**_

"The Dragon is the most noble, and most powerful of all legendary creatures. To master the Dragon Style one must first master all eleven of the other animal styles. Dragon style takes the best parts from each of the other styles and combines them into one. Dragons are said to see the truth clearly, and bring peace."

_**RED PANDA STYLE**_

"Red Panda Style is quick and efficient. Students learn how to read an opponent's body language to know what they intend to do. Every strike targets chi-power at nerve points on the body with forceful precision. A powerful Red Panda move is the Wuxi Finger Hold, which releases explosive chi-power with just the tiniest of movements."

* * *

It was very good for Po, his comrades, and his master to know all of the twelve styles of Kung Fu. For instance, even though Master Shifu was trained in the style of the Red Panda, he still had to be able to teach his students their own proper style and technique that fit them. The same went for Master Oogway, he practiced the style of Tortoise, well, he _created_ Tortoise style, but anyway, he had to teach Master Shifu how to use Red Panda style.

This is where the Certification Testing had been started. In order to teach the next generation or be Grandmaster of a palace, you had to master all styles of Kung Fu. To master all twelve styles was truly an accomplishment.

Po was a little bit uneasy on Viper Style; it was difficult to get the style's flow properly. But the Dragon Warrior was sure he would be confident after this last practice.

"Come on guys." The panda called as he rose up from his seat. "Shifu needs us."

Then Po and the others made their way and rounded the corner of the corridor.

But something made them stop.….

It must have been something _surprising…._

_It made their jaws drop….._

* * *

**A/N: What? What made their jaws drop? What could it be? Take your guess!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It might have been boring or short to you, but it's something. I really need to update more often….**

**Did you like the styles? Those are all the styles of Kung Fu! There might be more though… But aren't they cool? I thought I would give you all of the information about the fighting styles! Which do you like the best? I think my sparring style at my taekwondo school is Leopard Style! Uh oh! Does that mean I'm like Tai Lung?**

**What's your favorite style? Which do you think yours is?**

**I hope you enjoyed it, please review! It ALWAYS means a lot to ANY author. I LOVE getting them! Don't be shy to SAY ANYTHING! I appreciate it all….**

**Catch you later! **


	14. The Test

**A/N: Hello! I'm back! Sorry about the late update. I have been promising myself to try to update every week, but it just won't seem to happen! Sorry!**

**Here is the new chapter! I know that you are all anxious about finding out what the surprise is! I would like to give a shout-out to sweetluckygirl who guessed correctly at what the surprise is. sweetluckygirl has very amazing stories. She even has a one-shot collection out right now! Check it out!**

**Thanks again to all my amazing reviewers, you guys are so awesome. Thank you for all the support! **

**Are you ready to find out what the surprise is? I sure am!**

**Don't forget to review! Remember, every 50****th**** reviewer gets a shout-out!**

**Disclaimer: I sadly don't own Kung Fu Panda, I would be the happiest person alive if I did….**

* * *

_Chapter Fourteen: The Test_

* * *

It took them all by surprise.

What the six fierce warriors were seeing was making their stomachs twist into knots of anxiousness.

Well, who wouldn't be nervous at the sight of seeing it?

There, literary thirty-two feet away from them…was the surprise.

The surprise, now that it was being revealed, was something that no one, not even Po, could have ever guessed.

In the center of the training hall was a group of eighteen small and rambunctious children. They were crowding together in a group with Master Shifu in the middle section of the room where Po and his friends usually talked with the Grandmaster. The children were a variety of geese, bunnies, and piglets. They hopped, flew, and spun around the room very noisily, extremely excited to be inside of the legendary training hall.

Po recognized a brown-spotted bunny named Quon. The panda had taught the youngster's class a few days back. The little tyke had successfully learned how position his feet in the proper sparring stance. Po had been very proud of him that day. It was always great to see the little ones learn something new.

Po waved to the bunny. "Hey Quon!" he called.

Quon's speckled ear rose when he heard his name being called. His big brown eyes frantically searched for the voice and looked up to the Dragon Warrior's smile. He bounced in excitement and scurried over to the panda. "Hiya Po!" he cheered.

The other children paid no attention to Quon running over to chat with the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five. The little creatures seemed to be too busy messing around with the training hall's obstacle courses and Master Shifu's beard….

Quon hopped to Po and the others with glee. "Hey Mr. Dragon Warrior!" the bunny nodded to Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Crane and Viper, who were still gaping with their mouths open at the scene of wildness. "Hello Furious Five! How are you all?" he asked.

Po shook his head, remembering his senses. He stopped staring at the other children and 'Shifu's little problem' and dropped down to Quon's eye level.

"Hi Quon, how are you doing?" he asked sincerely.

"I'm doing real good Po!" the little cottontail swayed side to side and played with his green vest. "Are you ready to teach me new stuff today?"

Po narrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. He glanced at the others for knowledge. They just simply shrugged. They had no idea what was going on either. "I'm teaching you new stuff?" the panda repeated.

Quon nodded in comprehension. "That's what your Master Shifu said. He said that we're gonna help you for a testing!"

Po smiled. "I see what's going on now…" he looked back up at Shifu, who had managed to make the children sit down in a crisscross applesauce position. His old master had probably wanted to make sure that Po and his comrades would be ready for their Certification Test. Master Shifu had taken the time to visit with the children's parents and schedule a last minute class with the youngsters.

Po looked back to Quon's bright eyes. "Are you ready for us to teach you some new things, Quon?"

Quon bounced up and down excitedly. "You bet I am! I wanna learn how to do a butterfly kick today!"

Po laughed and rubbed Quon's soft, furry, head. "Come on buddy," the panda started to make his way to the center of the room. "Let's get started."

* * *

After making their way to Master Shifu, Po led Quon to a small group of children that were awaiting instructions from the red panda.

"Over there buddy. We'll teach you some stuff in a few minutes." Po directed.

"Yes, Master Po!" and with that, Quon bounced over to his classmates with anticipation.

Po circled around Master Shifu with Tigress, Crane, Monkey, Mantis, and Viper. He gave Shifu a surprised smile; he really didn't expect a surprise like this from his master.

Shifu nodded briefly to the Dragon Warrior. "Well, I assume you have all seen what I have planned for you…."

They chuckled awkwardly, not sure what to make of it all.

Viper raised her black patterned tail. "Master, do you expect us to teach a class right now?" she questioned.

Shifu gave a chuckle himself. "Yes," the red panda praised. "That is indeed what I want you all to do."

He pointed to each apprentice. "I want all of you to teach a class just like you will at Certification."

Everyone nodded in comprehension.

Shifu raised a finger and pointed at the 'little warriors in training'. "I understand that we have been practicing how the testing will be like at Certification on each other. But now, I thought that we could teach our skills with the children." He smiled heartedly. "Surprise!" he laughed.

The others laughed along with their master. But on the inside, Po was a bit intimidated at the whole idea of teaching a group of wild children like he would be teaching at Certification. …..

Certification Testing was a big deal and was only held once a year. You could not fail. You had to go through crazy workouts and seminars, but you also had to teach a class in front of judges…..

* * *

"Children!" Shifu called. The grandmaster motioned the children to stand still, walked over to them, and commanded them to take a seat. The little rascals did as they were told. "My apprentices are now going to teach your class." He confirmed.

The children nodded eagerly and a wave of excitement suddenly filled the room.

Shifu leaned down at the children's eye level and whispered softly. "Do your best as my students teach you; this is a very special class for them." He cocked his head to the side at an odd angle. "Do you understand?"

Eighteen small heads bobbed up and down in reply.

"Very good little ones, very good..." Shifu continued. The red panda nodded to his own students. "We will begin now."

Tigress, Crane, Viper, Po, Monkey, and Mantis bowed to their master. They were ready.

Shifu sat down at the back of the room and crossed his legs in a lotus position. "I will take note of your leadership skills and let you know what you need to work on for Certification Testing." He looked to his adopted daughter and the avian with the worn straw hat. "Level Three is to go first. Crane and Tigress, please decide who is going to teach now."

Crane turned to Tigress and shrugged. Tigress simply nodded back, and then the feline bounded up to front of the classroom. "I will teach first, Master." She informed plainly.

Her father nodded. "You may begin…."

Tigress turned to the little children and gave a slight smile. She took a little breath and began the serious speech she gave at every single class she taught:

"You children are China's future. You must work hard to attain perfection. You must be solemn, focused, and resolute. If you want to be a Kung Fu Warrior, you must keep on working even when the going gets tough…." She started fiercely.

As Tigress continued on, Shifu was watching her intently and taking notes of her work. Po couldn't help but smile a bit at the children. Although Tigress' words were inspiring, it seemed as if the children had heard the speech so many times that they were falling asleep from boredom!

"And with that said…" the tiger finished her presentation. "Are you prepared to do some Kung Fu?" she questioned.

At the sound of those words, the geese, bunnies, and piglets immediately perked up, excited to learn some new moves.

Tigress quickly ordered the children to go to their acquired spots and began to teach her class. Since the tiger was just starting the class, she began to do some warm-ups with the students.

The Kung Fu Cat-fighter brought over the panda wave master. "Alright," she said. "We are going to perform some drills on our little panda friend here." The little ones giggled and a few of the piglets pointed to Po, their other 'panda friend'.

Tigress smiled a bit as well. "No, no." she corrected as she tapped the wave master. "This one right here…"

One by one, Tigress instructed the 'warriors in training' to be in a single file line and watch her demonstrate a drill on the dummy.

"Today," she announced. "We are going to practice a sparring segment in Red Panda Style." She nodded in approval as the children gasped with awe.

"This Style is a very advanced Style. It is alright if you are uncomfortable at first. Red Panda Style is difficult to master."

The toddlers didn't seem to care if the Style was hard or not, they just seemed anxious to try out the coolness of Red Panda Style!

"We are going to be very fast on this bag." Tigress instructed loudly. The feline leaned quickly away from dummy, as if dodging out of the way of a strike. But then, quick as a wink, she hurriedly rammed two powerful and intense punches on the 'panda pal', forcing the wave master to fall to the floor.

The Kung Fu Master turned around to face the kids, whose eyeballs had literally popped out of their sockets, amazed at the Master's fascinating strength. The little ones always strived to hit the dummy hard, but they had never been able to knock it down!

Tigress pointed to her fallen enemy, "Did you see how I got out of the way and then quickly counter-attacked the wave master?" she asked receiving squeals of excitement from her students. Her eyes glimmered at their admiration. "I want you to do the same thing I did."

More excited squeals followed….

She continued on. "As you are coming up for your turn, remember to keep your hands up by your head! You don't want to get your head taken off by your opponent." She warned.

A few youngsters giggled at the thought and pretended to smack their skulls and fall down.

"Be quick and efficient like a red panda with this drill; that means no sloppy punches." The tiger continued. "Sparring stance!" she commanded.

Po watched with amusement as the bunnies, piglets, and geese jumped into their fighting stance and started bouncing with energy to face off the panda wave master.

Tigress watched them do the same drill she had just demonstrated. She kept use of the 10 Class Management Skills and gave thoughtful feedback and positive correction to those who needed it. Occasionally, when a child or two didn't have their paws, hooves, or wings up, she would tap at their head lightly to remind them of keeping their guard up.

Po smiled at Tigress' gentleness. When he had first arrived to the Jade Palace, Tigress had been extremely strict in her teaching style. She would be totally no nonsense and would punish the little ones (Po too…) with push-ups quite frequently. But over the years, the tiger master had seemed to find a balance in her way of teaching. She was able to joke around here and there and was a bit more open to the children's eagerness. But still, his friend just loved to be very serious. She was a complete perfectionist with everything….

After a few minutes of the sparring drill, Tigress called the students to stand still. The little rascals obeyed with a last punch to the dummy.

At that moment, Master Shifu called Tigress to say that her work was finished. The red panda had her switch places with Crane for his turn.

Crane fluttered timidly to the front of the room. His teaching style was very calm and easygoing. The avian just _loved_ to explain things from head to toe. He could also be strict if he needed to get his point across, but it wasn't necessary.

The black-crested crane ordered the kids to a listening position and explained thoroughly what they were going to accomplish. "Okay everyone. Listening ears on…." The bird put his brightly colored wings around a piglet's ears and shook it playfully. "We are going to do some stretches in the form of Tortoise Style." The avian grinned as he received some 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from his audience.

Crane then led the little ones through a series of complicated and advanced stretches. He reminded the children to focus on their inner chi like Master Oogway would and told them to breathe and feel the world's energy move around them.

When finished, Shifu called Crane to stop what he was doing and had Viper, Mantis, and Monkey teach the sparring drills together.

After pairing up the students with a partner their own size, the three Level Twos all took their turn teaching a sparring technique.

Viper, as always, was the mother-hen of the group. She would always make sure that everyone was comfortable. She liked to praise the students and loved to show how each move they did had a meaning.

Viper smiled motherly and taught how to analyze someone's weakness from Leopard Style. She pointed to her partner, Monkey. "See how his hands are too close to his head?" she informed.

Monkey, funny as always, and an incredible sparring champ, quickly took over and taught how to attack their opponent with their own weakness from his own mastered style, the Monkey Style. The primate instructed Viper to take her tail and counter-strike over on top of his head, causing Monkey to rub his own shaved head in pain.

Mantis, who loved to be around the children and was the jokester of the bunch, hopped over onto Monkey's shoulder and demonstrated how to do the same attack Viper had just done, but with ridiculous speed in the form of Mantis Style.

Monkey rubbed his skull even more. There was probably going to be a nice bruise on his head in the morning…

Po anxiously awaited his turn. He smiled when he saw little Quon successfully attack his opponent, a piglet named Xi.

"Master Po."

Po's heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name.

Shifu motioned for him to stand up and trade places with Viper, Mantis, and Monkey.

Po obeyed and walked to his designated spot and waited for instructions from his master.

"Po," knowing that his student was a bit uneasy with teaching, the red panda spoke gently. "I would like you to teach the children their form please…"

The grandmaster watched as his youngest warrior bowed. "Yes Master Shifu." Po said.

Po bowed once again with the children and told them to go to their beginning positions for the form.

The panda took a deep breath and spun around to face the little ones. Up close, he could now see that all they wanted to do was to follow in the master's footsteps and become a warrior themselves. They wanted to learn. Po's anxiousness went away as he realized that the kids were just like him. They wanted to be like their heroes too….

The Dragon Warrior smiled joyfully. "Okay guys! Do you know what form we're doing today!?" he watched as they all shook their heads excitedly.

He chuckled. "We're going to be performing Panda Style for Master Shifu!" Po pointed to his master, who was still sitting in his little corner in the far section of the room with his notes.

The children gasped and stood up straighter, ready to take on the challenge.

"Ready?" he asked.

Then Po led the eighteen children through Panda Style form using various belly techniques and little trademarks. At one point, the panda had the children stop the move they were doing and had them say 'Skadoosh!' to their imaginary opponent.

Po didn't even think if he was doing anything wrong. He was having way too much fun teaching the next generation of Kung Fu. This was a dream come true. Not only was he a Kung Fu legend, he was a Kung Fu legend that could mentor other students! How cool was that!?

When finished, Master Shifu took his own place at the front of the room and dismissed the children for the day.

"Students," the master started as the last goose left. "I will now tell you what you did well on and what you will need to improve for Certification Testing…"

Even though Master Shifu and his own students had known each other for years, everyone was a little bit nervous at the idea of finding out their results from this little practice test.

Po saw out of the corner of his stunning, jade, eye that everyone, including Tigress, stiffened as Master Shifu approached them with the results of their teaching skills…

* * *

**A/N: There you go! What did you think? Was it a good surprise?**

**Hopefully nobody's results are bad! We want them to be good!**

**Quon means 'bright' in Chinese. It was fun to make up my own little OC. Who knows, maybe Quon will return in future stories!**

**As you know, Certification Testing is a real thing! And so, I have based The Furious Five, Shifu, and Po on my instructors at my school! What do you think about that!? **

**If my head instructor is reading this right now, I hope you are pleased with all this Certification info, teaching styles, and fighting styles! Can you guess which character I based the other instructors on? You can put your own guesses in a review!**

**Please take your time to review, it means a lot to any author. It makes my day. I bet it makes your day knowing that you've made someone happy today by leaving what you thought on this chapter, even if the review is critical or not. **

**Remember, every 50****th**** review gets a shout-out. Who's going to be the 200****th**** reviewer? It all starts….now!**

**Thank you.**

**Catch you later!**


	15. The Results

**A/N: Hello everyone on fanfiction! I am here with a totally awesome new chapter! Yay!**

**I would like to give a special shout-out to my 200****th**** and 201****th ****reviewer! M4dG4rl! Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! I am so very blessed to even get reviews from such a wonderful author like you! We all love you and your epic stories M4dG4rl! Thanks so much for reviewing and writing amazing stories for us to read!**

**Please also note that I WILL BE CHANGING MY USERNAME. Please keep your eyes out for the change. It will be changed to MusicNinja15. Please PM if you have any comments on that matter…..**

**Okay then, thanks to everyone who has reviewed! It means so much! I always get so excited when I get a new review! Thanks again!**

**This chapter is pretty short. But its a chapter! I hope you all find it exciting and surprising! Please review for this one. I guess there is a bit of TiPo in it, but there will be more TiPo to come within five chapters. **

**Read, review, and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda, the characters, or DreamWorks…. **

* * *

_Chapter Fifteen: The Results_

* * *

They stood there in silence, waiting nervously for their results from the pre-certification test.

Anxiousness rose from the pit of their stomachs and traveled through their bodies, creating thick tension in the air.

Po was very uneasy. He knew he shouldn't be. It was just Master Shifu telling them what they had to work on.

But still, Certification was once a year.

You could not fail.

If Po had failed this simple mock-test, how could he pass the real test!?

The panda breathed slowly in and out of his black nose and told himself to relax, to live in the moment, whether he was nervous or not.

Master Shifu slowly walked up and down the single file line of warriors, looking them in the eye, making his six apprentices' nerves become more and more on edge. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he came to a stop in front of Tigress.

Standing frozen like a statue in her 'at ease' position, Tigress acknowledged her master and bowed faithfully.

"Master Tigress," The red panda began sternly. "I am very impressed with your work with the Level Three techniques and fighting styles."

She nodded. "Thank you Master."

"But," Shifu raised a finger and carried on. "You should not care so much about where the little ones are standing. As long as you have their attention, you can demonstrate the technique. Try not to use so much time as you did earlier. If the students are not listening to you, they have failed themselves in not obeying your instructions."

Tigress bowed again. "Thank you Master." She spoke crisply. "I shall take your advice for this weekend, it is very much appreciated."

Her father acknowledged this. "You are very welcome Master Tigress. You do command the children very nicely. Well done…"

The red grandmaster moved on to his next student: Crane.

"Master Crane." He spoke.

Crane bowed to his master. "Master Shifu." He addressed him.

"I very much enjoyed you teaching the children the proper stretches from Tortoise style. I found it very informative when you announced to the little ones how to feel the presence of the world and energy around them. Well done."

"Thank you." The avian replied.

"Now," Shifu tilted his patterned head towards the bird. "What I want you to work on is making a very big presentation with your words and body language…." The red panda paused and made gestures with his nimble paws. "Do you comprehend what I am trying to explain?"

Crane nodded. "Yes Master. I should be a bit more open and not so quiet."

"Well, not precisely." Shifu replied. "Being quiet is good to some points. You can draw attention to the students by whispering. But, with a large class, it is better to project your voice a bit more. You are doing well Crane."

The student and his master bowed once more to each other. Then slowly, the red Kung Fu Warrior walked down his line of students. With each step his master took, Po became more anxious to find out his results….

Next in the line of anxious Kung Fu Warriors was Viper. She pressed her lips together as her master approached her. "Master Shifu." She acknowledged with a deep bow.

"Master Viper." Shifu replied calmly. "I am pleased with your teaching style. You are very motherly to the students. You also explain each technique's proper meaning. You have done well."

"Thanks so much Master Shifu." The snake smiled at all the compliments she had received.

"What you need to do to improve your skills, is to be a bit stricter with the children." The red panda said.

Viper cringed a little. "Yes, I guess I had that coming…. I like being nice with the kids though. They are….well….kids…" she trailed off at that point.

"Yes, I understand Master Viper." Shifu reassured. "But, with that note, if your teaching style is acting like a mother, you must remember that a mother will also reprimand her children on things they have done wrong." He reminded her. "Do you understand that concept?"

She touched her hair ribbons gently. "Yes Master Shifu. That is very thoughtful advice. Thank you…."

Po gulped. There were only two more of his friends that Shifu had to go through before his turn!

"Monkey, I love how you are very energetic with the children. They seem to enjoy you a lot."

"Thank you Master Shifu." The primate grinned.

"However, even though you are very fun to be around, I feel as if you are still not connecting to the students as much as you should." Shifu carried on as Monkey squinted with confusion. "Do not be afraid to give the little ones some high fives or adjust their stances and joint position."

Shifu then showed him how to gently tell a 'little rascal' to adjust their move. He also demonstrated when it was a perfect time to give the student an occasional touch on the arm or back.

"Never pat the student on the head like this…" Shifu took his paw and gave Monkey a little massage on his shaved head.

The five other warriors standing in line gave a little chuckle and Shifu grinned as well. "It is awkward for the child to be touched on his or her head. Please refrain from doing that… "

"Master Mantis."

The insect bowed in reply.

"I am very glad with your teaching style. You are informative, good with the children, and you are doing a fine job with the Fighting Styles."

"Well, thank you very much Master." The praying mantis nodded his tiny head up and down.

"The only thing I suggest is a very key objective to teaching….learning the student's names."

"Uh oh." Mantis replied, remembering his small, yet huge mistake.

"I do recall hearing you praise a rabbit and call it 'kid'. I believe the child's name is Quon."

Mantis laughed at his slip-up. "I'm sorry Master. It must have slipped my mind. I'll try to get all of their names down."

"I do hope you do, Master Mantis." Shifu said. "I hope you do…."

Suddenly, Master Shifu was in front of our favorite panda warrior, Po.

The panda jumped a little, not expecting his master to pop out right in front of him. "Master Shifu…" He bowed as deeply as he could.

Knowing that his student was a bit uneasy about this whole situation, Shifu gave a little smile to the panda. He bowed as well. "Master Po…."

In that moment, nothing really mattered to Po. He just wanted to get this anxious feeling out of the pit of his stomach. He _knew_ he did well on the test. He _knew_ he did. But awaiting the words to come out of Shifu's mouth was nerve-wracking.

"Po," the grandmaster started. "I am very pleased with your performance today with the children. You have really grown a lot in your teaching style. I can see that you are becoming much more comfortable with leading classes."

Po's worry turned into glee as he heard the words come out of the red panda's mouth. He beamed and leaned a bit towards his master, wanting to know what to improve on.

"I have to warn you though," Shifu added. "That punch that you did in the form was supposed to be a back-fist, not a punch."

The panda paused and remembered his mess-up. "Yes Master Shifu. I'll fix that." he responded quickly.

Shifu nodded. "Good. With that, I say that you are doing a terrific job at teaching the children. They seem to have a lot of fun with you."

The Dragon Warrior smiled wide. "Thank you Master!" he said cheerfully.

The panda realized that his uneasiness had gone away.

It was over and he did great! There was nothing more to dread right now for the present. It was amazing how fast the pre-certification test had come and gone.

After the announcement of everyone's results, Shifu had his students sit down on the floor and discussed last minute details and procedures for the upcoming weekend in Gongmen City.

When they were finished interrogating with one another, Shifu rose up from the ground and faced the six warriors standing together in their resumed single file line.

"All I can say is that everyone did a wonderful job today!" he smiled. "I can not wait to see how everything turns out at the Certification Testing."

Everyone was glowing with joy at the sound of their master's praise.

"Please notify me with all the new teaching and fighting techniques you will learn in your training sessions."

Six heads bobbed up and down in obedience.

"Tell the new Grandmaster of Gongmen City that I say 'Hello' and that I wish him the 'Best of luck'." He paused. "Now you must go finish packing." He commanded.

At the end of Shifu's second to last sentence, everyone froze in time.

"Wait," Crane inched forward a bit and cautiously asked. "Who's the new Grandmaster of Gongmen City?"

Everything stopped in Po's mind.

The new Grandmaster… since Master Rhino was dead; there had to be a new Grandmaster elected for Gongmen City Master's Council.

And Po had a pretty good idea who the new Grandmaster was.

His stomach twisted into knots of anxiousness that were far worse than they had been a few moments ago.

Suddenly, everything that had happened the night before, and this morning, flashed back in his mind.

* * *

_Tigress had a secret to tell._

_The secret was that Master Croc, his hero, used to be a bandit._

_He could believe it! Master Croc couldn't have been a bandit. _

_His friends had tried to calm him down and reassure him._

_But it didn't work…_

_He had a dream…_

_The worst dream ever…._

_Tigress, his best friend, had been killed in his dream by none other than Master Croc._

_He had woken up to Master Shifu yelling his name…_

_He had gone up to the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom to think…_

_Tigress had arrived there too and she helped him ease his worries._

_He had realized something last night….._

_Tigress was special to him….. She was his friend….He could trust her with anything. _

_But he couldn't bear to tell her that Croc had killed her in his nightmare…_

* * *

It all came back to him in a big, huge, wave of dread.

It was all back…

The worries….

The wondering….

He should have told himself what Tigress had told him. That he should not be taking Master Croc and his past too dramatically.

But he knew… he_ knew_ who the new Grandmaster was…

His mind swirled around the room in hope that the Grandmaster of Gongmen City wasn't who he thought it was.

His stomach twisted into knots of unbelievable anxiety and his heart pounded rapidly as Master Shifu uttered the two dreaded words….

* * *

**A/N: There you go! How was that for dramatic and exciting!? Tell me what you think in a review! I'm hoping that the GrandMaster isn't 'You-Know-Who'! **

**Who do you think it is?**

**Thanks again for reviewing, favoriting, and following. I wouldn't be at this point without you guys!**

**Again, I am changing my username soon to MusicNinja15. **

**Catch you later!**


	16. Looking for Answers

**A/N: Hey everyone! I am back with a surprisingly quick update for The Mysterious Master Croc! I hope you enjoy it, even if it is a tad bit short. I added a little bit of TiPo! I hope it's good!**

**I got tons of reviews, favorites, and follows from the last chapter! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING! **

**I also received many guesses on who the new Grandmaster is. Could it be Lord Shen, Master Ox, Tigress, or Master Croc?! Let's find out!**

**Please read, review, and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda or ATA Taekwondo…..**

* * *

_Chapter Sixteen: Looking for the Answers_

* * *

Standing there in that moment of anxiety was more than Po could bear. He felt his heart sink when he heard his master tell the news.

Who was the new Grandmaster?

Po felt that he could hardly breathe when Shifu made the announcement.

"The new Grandmaster of Gongmen City is the _Ferocious Master Croc_." The red panda stated simply.

That was all it took for Po's head to start pounding.

He tried to hold back his shock.

The memories were back, the nightmares were back.

The panda didn't understand. This feeling was something he could control, this wasn't a big deal. But he couldn't control it, he just couldn't.

He needed answers.

He needed to know why Master Croc used to be bandit.

The Dragon Warrior gulped. "Master Croc is the new Grandmaster of Gongmen City?" He asked tentatively.

"Yes," Master Shifu said. He looked at all his students cheerfully, but smiled slightly at Tigress in a strange way. "He will be very pleased to see you all again." He said knowingly.

Po's head spun around in circles, making everything seem unreal and dizzy. His thoughts screamed at him, making his whole body tremble. _"Master Croc! Master Croc! Master Croc is coming for you….Master Croc!"_

The panda bumped into Monkey awkwardly causing everyone to look at him with concerned expressions. He met their eyes for a few seconds. "Um..." he swallowed. He had to get out of here. "I'm gonna go pack…." He said hastily.

He removed himself from the line he was standing in with his comrades. He turned to leave but felt a paw on his shoulder.

He looked back. It was Tigress.

She had that concerned look in her sunset eyes again. They searched his own jade green eyes for an answer to his sudden uneasiness.

Po gave a small smile back at his friend. "I'm fine." He lied.

She had a look of disbelief on her face, detecting that he was fibbing. However, she nodded back slowly, not making a sound.

Po moved towards the elegantly carved doors and scurried out of the hall.

* * *

Instead of following Shifu's instructions to go pack for the long journey ahead, he ran past the barracks, went through the doors to the Jade Palace, and collapsed into the Hall of Records. There, he quickly searched for the information, the answers, to the mystery behind Master Croc.

He started at the Master's Section and worked his way through the hundreds of scrolls containing information of the Master's greatest achievements.

Half-way through an interesting scroll on how Master Leopard liked to sing opera, he was interrupted by a gruff voice.

"Dragon Warrior, may I ask what are you doing here?"

Startled, Po jumped and the scroll he was reading flew right out of his paws and fell onto the green marbled ground. "Master Shifu!" he said.

Shifu grinned at the panda's clumsiness and put his own paws on the formal Grandmaster's tall staff. "Why are you here Po?" he asked again.

"Oh hey Shifu," Po stammered. He gave a little bow. "I'm just…ya know, looking at everyone's records of all the awesome stuff they did."

His master raised an eyebrow. "Are you not looking for someone's specific record?"

Po stopped what he was doing. "Maybe…."

"Po," Shifu spoke gently. "Master Tigress has mentioned what has been going on with you. I am worried that you are becoming too concerned with Master Croc."

Po didn't know what to say. He stood and fidgeted with his fingers.

"What _you_ need to know Dragon Warrior, is that the past is the past. What only matters is what you choose to be now. You have heard that saying before, correct?"

Po nodded and a small smile appeared across the giant panda's face. "Yes, I have."

"Good." Shifu replied. "You have many things to prepare for. Do not let others things distract you, especially if those other things are not of your concern. Do you understand?" the red panda asked.

Po nodded and bowed. "Yes Master Shifu. I do."

"Excellent." His master said. "Now, please do tend to packing your bags. You are leaving soon." He gave a final nod and left the room filled with knowledgeable scrolls.

Po understood what Shifu had explained to him. He really did. Actually, he had learned the same exact lesson last week.

Po made a decision. He wasn't going to obsess over the crocodile's past any longer. He was going to focus on the challenges he had ahead, like getting through the intense work-outs he was to do in a few days.

He was going to think about himself and his future.

However, the panda's fan-boy side couldn't help but take a scroll about the new Crocodile Grandmaster to accompany him on the long trip ahead….

* * *

The rest of the afternoon seemed to be a blur.

Po and his friends ate a small lunch of classic noodles and vegetables, and then headed to pack their things for the long weekend ahead of them.

While packing a supply of clothes, food, awesomeness, weapons, and scrolls in his room, Po heard a tap on his paper-thin door. "Come in!" he called.

The door opened and Tigress walked in and bowed. "Dragon Warrior." She spoke.

"Hey Tigress," Po replied as he put a pair of ceremonial nun chucks into his bag that his father, Mr. Ping, had given him.

"Po, are you sure that you are "fine"?" the feline asked. She had noticed that the panda was extremely uneasy in the training hall hours before.

Po turned around and nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Master Shifu talked to me about…uh…. Master Croc." He stammered. He remembered that it was Tigress that had explained to Shifu about his reason for the nightmare he had experienced last night.

Tigress was silent for a moment. "Yes," she finally replied. "Do you understand now?"

Po bobbed his black and white head up and down. "Yeah…. I mean I still would like to know the story behind everything. Do you know why Master Croc used to be a bandit?"

She froze, not knowing what to say. She opened her mouth, but nothing seemed to exit her brain. "I may….." Tigress finally said.

Po was confused. "You may?" he replied.

She shook her head up and down a little in response. "Yes, I do know the story behind his past." the feline paused slightly and looked him straight in his green eyes. "I _promised _you last night that I would give you the answers to your questions…. I might as well tell you now." She spoke slowly.

Po smiled and understood that his best friend was going to keep her promise. Part of him also knew that he had to tell Tigress about who the "Her" in his terrible nightmare really was.

Now seemed to be best time for the both of them to tell their secrets….

"Master Tigress," Po said formally. "There's something I want to tell you too."

Tigress returned his smile with a small one of her own. "Yes?" she said.

Po moved his mouth slightly and suddenly grasped one of Tigress' strong, striped, paws. "It's something that I've been trying to share with you since I had my nightmare last night…."

Tigress looked down at his paw touching hers. She was somehow comforted by it just like she was last week when Po had held it when she was floating on a piece of drift board. She looked back up to her friend and nodded. "Go on…." She encouraged gently.

The panda was just about to speak when the two Kung Fu Warriors were interrupted by a sound.

_DONG…_

_DONG….._

The two figures' thoughts stopped as they processed what they had just heard.

It was the two o'clock bell.

They knew what that meant.

It was time to leave for Gongmen City.

* * *

**A/N: Little cliffhanger for you! What did you think? Would you consider that last scene a TiPo scene? Tell me what you think!**

**Master Croc is the new Grandmaster! Is that a good or bad thing?**

**Thanks again for all of your support. I truly would not be here if it weren't for you guys! Thanks so much!**

**Don't**** forget to review! I was SO impressed at the last chapter's reviews! You guys TOTALLY ROCK! Give yourself a pat on the back! **

**Who's going to be the 250****th**** reviewer? **

**Ready…..set…review!**

**Thanks again!**

**Catch you later!**

**~MusicalNinja15**


	17. Adventures are Retold

**A/N: Hi! I'm back and I've brought a new chapter with me! It seems that every chapter seems to get shorter. Oh well, it a chapter…..**

**This weekend, my taekwondo school held a tournament. It was fun! I got 2****nd**** in form and weapons and 3****rd**** in sparring. That's why this update is a little late…..**

**I would like to thank everyone for their wonderful, wonderful reviews! I was blown away by them again! Thanks so much. This story really wouldn't be this far without you guys! Thank you!**

**The 250****th**** review goes to Salunatic! Thanks so much! **

**And the 275****th**** review goes to Donna Curd, my grandma! Thank you Grandma (Po)! It means so much. Glad you are enjoying it!**

**Enjoy this new chapter, yes it's short, but I think it may be really good! Don't forget to review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda, DreamWorks, or the ATA Taekwondo Association…. **

* * *

_Chapter Seventeen: Adventures are Retold_

* * *

Po jumped, releasing the contact with him and Tigress' paws.

Already? It was time to go?

He looked back into Tigress' eyes after recognizing the sound of the bell. His heart was suddenly pounding. The panda needed to tell his friend about his dream _now_. He didn't like the idea of being interrupted like this, especially when he was about to tell the feline something that was a big deal to him.

He shook his paws. "Tigress… I-"

Tigress, who was always one for protocol, did not want to be late to arrive to such an important event as Certification Testing. She didn't want to waste any time in getting there. Even though Po was trying to tell her something that seemed pretty important, she knew that Master Shifu was expecting them.

She cut her friend off gently. She took note of her voice having a sad tone to it. "Po, we have to go….." she said.

She felt a wave of longing as she noticed the cheerfulness in his jade eyes leave him.

Not knowing what to do, she grasped his paw, squeezed it with her own and gave a comforting smile. "Do not worry Po..." She spoke softly. "We will find a way to talk soon…."

He smiled slightly back and nodded. "Okay Tigress…"

She let go of his black, furry, paw and slid his bamboo paper door open. "Good." She confirmed. "Let's go."

Po grabbed his pack and followed the feline to the hallway.

* * *

"You must be off my students. You best not be late." Shifu commanded to his six warriors.

Po and the Furious Five were standing outside the Jade Palace say their farewells to Master Shifu.

"Do you have everything necessary for your journey?" he asked.

Tigress stepped forward. "Yes Master Shifu, we have made sure that everything is packed." She confirmed.

"Good." The red panda replied. "I wish you all the best of luck this weekend. Have a safe trip."

The six warriors bowed in response, headed down the Jade Palace Thousand Steps, and started the long distance to Gongmen City...

After a day of climbing over rocky, snowy, and steep mountains, the six animals had decided to try a new route to get to the Valley of Peace Harbor. It consisted of climbing down from the dangerous mountains and onto a lush green forest, omitting the dry and sandy desert from the journey.

Thankfully, well, at least for Po, the new route proved to be shorter than the last. That way, the warrior's time could be spent preparing for the Certification Testing.

After walking in the beautiful forest for a few hours, the heroes were getting organized to set sail on the same exact boat they had ridden last week. The old boat was specialty made for the Warriors of The Valley of Peace one hundred years ago. The boat was unexpectedly small, (Granted, I don't think the builders ever expected a Panda Warrior to be sailing on the boat…) but everyone, including the warriors and the supplies managed to fit inside the tiny transportation system.

The manager of the harbor, a middle-aged pig, stood waiting at a little booth for customers. Tigress and Mantis headed over to him to request their leave while Po, Crane, and Viper loaded the supplies on board.

When the sun started to disappear at the end of the day, everyone was aboard the ancient ship, Monkey untied the rope connecting to the dock and the boat started to move towards Gongmen City.

As the night carried on, everyone was getting more and more anxious for the Certification Testing.

The Furious Five took turns telling funny stories about previous experiences with Certification Testing.

Crane's story was about a high rank master waking him and the other Level Twos extremely early in the morning for a work-out sessions in the dark. "It was miserable!" the avian grumbled.

Tigress laughed, she had been a Level Two at the same time and had experienced the same event. The tiger told her friends about her own adventure at the Certification Testing. It was about the masters scolding her for not having her feet together when she was standing. "I'm sure I won't repeat that action again!" she said.

Viper explained about the time where all of her make-up had been confiscated. "I looked dreadful!" the snake complained.

Mantis relived the memory of having to improvise a self-defense skit with a team of Level Ones. "My team won for the best skit!" he cheered.

Monkey solemnly retold the time where all of his Level One friends ate all of his almond cookies. "They didn't know how to share….." he whimpered.

The warriors burst out laughing when the primate had shared his story. Well, that is, except for a certain giant panda.

As hilarious as his comrades memories of the Certification Testing sounded, Po's mind kept drifting off into space. He couldn't seem to focus; he couldn't get his mind off the mysterious crocodile known as Master Croc. He knew it wasn't worth overreacting like he had done earlier, in the end; Master Croc's past wasn't really big deal.

Still, Po wanted to know the crocodile's past, _his_ story. There seemed to be more to just the fact he used to be a bandit. There was something more, something really critical and important.

So, as his friends continued on telling adventures and laughing, all the Dragon Warrior did was stare blankly at a scroll of Master Croc.

He had looked everywhere in the Hall of Records. He had found scrolls about Master Croc's biggest accomplishments, injuries, and battles. There was _nothing _about his background of being a crook.

Nothing.

"Po, are you even listening?" Tigress asked. She had noticed in the corner of her eye that Po wasn't joining the fun.

Po didn't even look up from the scroll that he seemed to be examining intently. "Yes, dumplings sound good right now." He stammered to her absentmindedly.

The Kung Fu Cat Fighter frowned. "What?" she questioned. She chuckled softly as she realized his mind was occupied and slid down from her seat on the floor next to him.

She tapped his shoulder lightly. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Po's emerald eyes looked up in surprise to see Tigress was sitting right next to him. "Oh...I'm just...um..." he trailed off as he realized that everyone was looking at him with question.

"What is that?" Monkey demanded as he pointed to the object in Po's paws.

The primate scooped the scroll up with his tail and studied it. "Po are you... Oh buddy! You brought this thing with you?" He showed it to the others.

"Oh Po!" Viper gasped. "You don't have to beat yourself up on this!"

"Yeah, you have nothing to worry about." Crane said.

"I know guys!" Po interrupted. "I know! But Master, um Grandmaster Croc said something to me last week about staying on the right path and all I want to know his background….." he paused, all eyes were on him. "His story…." He finished and then he sighed. "All I know about Grandmaster Croc is..."

He gestured to Tigress.

"He supposedly used to be a bandit, he joined Masters Ox and Rhino to help defeat the Wu Sisters, and he's an awesome Kung Fu legend."

"And he captured me once." Mantis cut in. "You forgot about that part. He used to be the head of the Crocodile Bandits." The insect shook his head in anger and carried on. "But then… one day Croc realized what he was doing was wrong and then he turned good. The end!" he exclaimed.

"That's not all Master Mantis." Tigress countered quickly.

"There's more?" Viper asked. "I thought those were his only background records."

"No, there is a piece of history that was never recorded….." Tigress simply replied. Her amber eyes suddenly widened as she realized what she had carelessly told her friends.

"How do you know about that?" Po questioned.

Tigress paused and toyed with the scroll. The tension was on her. She sighed inside as she remembered that she had told Po that he would get the answers to his questions. She figured that now was no better time.

She took a little breath and spoke slowly. "Maybe I never reported it in…."

* * *

**A/N: There you go! How was that for a chapter!? I know it was short. But I thought it was pretty good! **

**What did you think? Would you consider any TiPo in there? Did the **_**mysteriousness**_** come back? Let me know!**

**As you probably know, I am trying to update faster. I think all of you guys like it! I usually like to post during the weekend, so keep your eyes out for more updates! **

**Don't forget to review, that's what keeps authors going! Thank you to all those you review, favorite, and follow. You are making a difference in someone life and story….**

**Catch you later!**


	18. The Story Begins

**A/N: Hello everyone! I am back with a new chapter! Thanks so much for the awesome positive feedback in the other chapters!**

**I would also like to thank everyone for supporting me in my first Star Trek One-Shot Collection! Thank you! If you already haven't checked it out, please do! **

**Thanks to my 300****th**** reviewer, M4dG4rl! Thank you so much for everything! I can not explain in words how blessed I am to have you as a reader, writer, and friend, thank you!**

**Hope you all like the chapter, its short and a bit more of a filler chapter, but please, enjoy! Don't forget to review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda, DreamWorks, or ATA Taekwondo…..**

* * *

_Chapter Eighteen: The Story Begins_

* * *

Tigress reflected on what she had just spoken a few minutes earlier.

_"Maybe I never reported it in…."_ she had said. The feline realized that it was a very bad thing to say…..

The boat was silent now, all eyes were on her, and she was tensing up.

She knew what they were thinking, that she was probably crazy. Tigress even knew that what she had just said wasn't even in her character at all. She never let anything slip, and she never told secrets.

But sometimes it happens, it had been already twice that week that she had told secrets to her friends. She scolded herself for not having control over her thoughts and words. She knew better.

Now she was dealing with all of her comrades staring at her with big wide eyes. It was an annoying and anxious feeling….

The others were shocked. This was so unlike Tigress, was she feeling well? The rest of the Furious Five all had their mouths open in shock, with Crane's mouth dropped to the unsteady wooden floor.

Po's mouth, on the other hand, was open in awe. He was happy that there was some information that wasn't recorded in the Hall of Records. There were now more things he could learn about Master...um... Grandmaster Croc. He was the only member of the crew that seemed to be excited about Tigress' little mistake.

Tigress narrowed her amber eyes as she sensed that the awkward silence had returned back. It was a very uncomfortable moment. She disliked getting all this attention from her crewmates.

She closed her eyes slightly as the stares continued to impend on her. She focused on her surroundings and tried to regain her thoughts, she took notice of how peaceful the flowing of the cool water felt beneath them. The only thing that was separating them from the water was the wooden boards of the tiny boat.

The rest of the Furious Five glanced at each other in silent communication as they saw their leader close her eyes. They nodded at each other; they were ready to confront the feline.

Crane was the first to shyly speak up. "Ummmm….. Tigress? I'm sorry to say, but not reporting a crime, or whatever it was, is so unlike you."

Tigress opened her eyes and gave an inquired look. "How is that so?" she asked slowly.

Crane froze. "Well…" The avian stuttered. He was trying to find a good reason to call the tiger out. "You used to report everything! You even made us report things in when we got sick or had an injury!"

"He's right, Tigress." Viper added gently. "You always wanted everything we did to go on our records." The snake implied.

The tiger slowly nodded back. "Yes, it seems that I did…."

Mantis hopped up off of Monkey's shoulder and onto the ground in front of the feline. "When, where, and why did this untold incident with Master Croc happen!?" the insect demanded angrily. He was mad.

Tigress seemed to look very uncomfortable, but Po surmised that all the looks she was getting from his buddies were winning….

Po tried to tell her through his facial expression that it was alright, he was here and he didn't care if she didn't report a little incident into the Hall of Records.

He saw her own expression soften and she nodded ever-so slightly back to him in recognition.

She raised her eyebrows. "Fine," she blurted out and let go of the calm composure she had been trying to hold.

"I will explain the reason why I did not report the event in on one condition and one condition only." She snapped. "No one in this room mentions to anyone what I am about to tell you."

She looked her friends dead in the eyes. "Do you understand?" she asked, her tone was sounding a bit threatening.

The others nodded (A few of them gulped…) in silent agreement.

"But Tigress," Po asked softly. "Why didn't you report this background information?" the panda thought there had to be a good reason why.

The feline shook her head. "I really do not know. I suppose it was because I was younger or Master Shifu had told me not to report it in. I think you all may understand why after you know that story…."

The Kung Fu Cat Fighter sighed in defeat. She didn't want to retell the story; sometimes she thought that it was a past mistake of hers. She still refused to report to this day. Master Croc had changed his ways because of what happened with her. He was a hero now and he didn't need a bad reputation.

"Are you sure you want to know the tale?" she asked seriously.

Po laughed. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. "I've been waiting for this story ever since you and I were up at the peach-" the panda cut himself off as he saw Crane eyeing him suspiciously.

He didn't want his friends to find out that he and Tigress were up there the previous night. The teasing would never end if they found out….

He smiled a little at his best friend. "I'm ready to hear the story." He confirmed.

The Furious Five shrugged and joined in Po's excitement.

"As am I!" Crane added, he tipped his traditional rice hat.

"Me too!" Viper said excitedly and her tail rattled anxiously.

"I want to know this other piece of Master Croc's past." Mantis cut in, a little bit annoyed. He wanted to know if Tigress' story was more dangerous than his background story on the crocodile. What could be better than the story of him getting captured by the Ferocious Grandmaster Croc?

"Count me in." Monkey chimed in, the primate was bored and wanted to hear a story.

The feline nodded to her comrades and took a deep breath. She was ready.

"To start out," she began. "You must need to know that only Shifu and I know about this incident." She looked to Po, the Dragon Warrior.

"I see it as hidden secret; I've kept from everyone for years…. My mind is now suggesting that I finally tell it to all of you." She gestured to the Five, and then the warrior looked back to the panda. "And I think that you have been waiting for the answers to Grandmaster Croc's past."

Po smiled widely at the feline; he had been waiting quite some time for the answers.

His friend nodded back, and she knew that now was the time to reveal the story of the past.

She smiled slightly at Po and cleared her throat.

"This whole situation all started about 12 years ago when I was training at the Jade Palace-"

"Oh, that was when you were an angry, red, fireball all the time and you would always blow up on us?" Mantis interrupted.

Tigress snapped her head very sharply and looked the insect dead in his little, tiny eyes. She didn't need to be reminded of how she used to act. "Silence!" she spoke harshly.

Mantis froze and went quiet.

"Thank you." The feline replied sternly. "Now, let us begin….."

* * *

**A/N: Ooh! Story is about to begin! Get your popcorn! What do you think!? Excited! I sure am! **

**Please know that the next chapter will be in Tigress' point of view. She's going to tell the story!**

**What did you think about it? Sorry it was so short; but the action is going to take off in the next chapter!**

**Please review; you know how much it means to me!**

**Catch you later!**


	19. Patrol Duty

**A/N: Hello! I have a new chapter up! Hope you enjoy it! The action of the story begins now!**

**Please note that these next few chapters will be told in Tigress' point of view (POV). I am not sure how many chapters her story will be; somewhere between two and three chapters…we'll see what happens.**

**You may also notice sentences with brackets around them. I once read a book (The Kane Chronicles.) where the person would be telling the story in his/her POV and then brackets would show up with a sentence. When you see the brackets [Like this!] please know that it is Tigress talking to one of the Five or Po in between the story, they keep on interrupting her!**

**Thank you so much for the kind reviews, it truly means a lot!**

**Don't forget to review; you know it makes me smile when you do!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda, DreamWorks, ATA Taekwondo, or Master Croc's background on wiki…**

* * *

_Chapter Nineteen: Patrol Duty_

* * *

The Valley of Peace was a comforting place for me. I felt excepted by the people in that town. I was given a home by Master Shifu at the Jade Palace. It was wonderful and I treasured everything I had there.

I trained in the art of Kung Fu at such an early age. I suppose I was around ten by the time I mastered the basics of punching and kicking. But still, there was always much more to learn.

I recall Grandmaster Oogway saying that you learned something new every day. As always, he was very right about that.

At twelve years old, I was studying combat training. I progressed very fast in the skill. At fifteen, I was learning about the duty of a high rank certification instructor and strived to be one. Yet, in order to even apply to teach you had to be a master in Kung Fu and at least eighteen years of age.

I was willing to do anything to be able to work with the high rank masters. I wanted to become known within the art of Kung Fu. I wanted to do everything. But alas, because of my age, there was only so much I could do….

I trained, trained, and trained some more. It seemed that there were no opportunities for me. I wasn't old enough to defend the Valley, I couldn't teach a class by myself, and I wasn't even a master yet!

But one day, that all changed…

Twelve years ago when I was sixteen years of age, my life changed, and I'll never forget the moment when it all happened.

I was finishing up my training up for the day, when Master Shifu requested to see me.

Master Shifu, who I admired most dear, requested to see me?

The statement I had heard come from the palace servant sounded so formal. I thanked the gray-feathered goose and dashed out of the training hall.

I had found him in the courtyard playing his elegantly carved wooden flute. I waited until he was finished with his song to approach him.

I strode over to my master and bowed deeply. He nodded his head back to me. "Tigress," he spoke. "Today is the day you are to start performing on night patrol."

My eyes widened. "Do you think I'm ready?" I asked.

I couldn't believe this! Master Shifu had asked me to perform a task that masters did! I was completely honored that he asked me to patrol, but I was slightly uncertain about the duty. I'd never done anything like that before…

"You are more than ready." He replied, interrupting my thoughts. "In fact, you should have been doing it months ago!"

I nodded eagerly back but paused slightly. I wasn't sure if that was a true compliment. He sounded as if I was... never mind….

I grinned. "Master Shifu, I would be honored to be on night patrol tonight." I confirmed.

My master nodded back seriously. "Very well my student," He replied. "Patrol will start at sunset."

I gave a final bow. "Thank you master, I am very grateful." I said.

With that, I turned around very professionally and made my way to my quarters, beaming with joy on the inside.

My excitement for this daring new challenge was very hard to control. Despite my usual disciplined composure, I was having a difficult time concentrating on the present. It seemed hours until it was time for my comrades and I to eat. I admit…I was very anxious.

Finally, it was time to nourish ourselves with food. At the dinner table, the others and I silently ate. We were a quiet bunch. No one liked to speak, and if we did, it was very awkward.

[Yes Mantis, you were there at the dinner table being quiet…. Now listen!]

In the corner of the table, Master Shifu was staring at his untouched food with his chopsticks falling slightly out of his paw. Something seemed off with my master. He was not focusing on the task before him.

I leaned forward cautiously. "Master, is there something wrong?" I asked, concerned with his unusual behavior.

He looked up to me with a hand on his patterned head and shook it at me. "No, nothing you need to worry about, Tigress…" he paused. "Master Oogway has been feeling… uneasy at the moment… He believes that there may be trouble stirring up."

The room, as awkward as it was, seemed to tense up even more. Trouble? That wasn't good…

I swallowed my tofu, "Does the trouble have anything to deal with tonight?" I asked timidly.

"I'm not sure, Tigress." The red panda replied. "I do not think so, but keep your eyes open for anything suspicious."

"Yes, Master." I answered.

With that, I swallowed my last bite of my meal, said goodnight to the others, and headed for the bamboo forest in the Southern part of the Valley.

As I ran hastily, I couldn't help but wonder what Master Oogway had been seeing in his crazy visions of his. I hoped that there any wouldn't be trouble going on. That was the last thing we needed, especially after the last few weeks. Everyone, every master of a palace or council, that was studying in the art of Kung Fu had been reorganizing their whole security system by recruiting new servants, guards, and making new security devices. We had not had time to test everything out. What if an evil-doer was able to get through security? I could only imagine what could happen if those thoughts came true…

By the time I reached my destination, it was already sundown. I found a nice, tall, tree that overlooked the area and began to climb branch by branch. Once there, I settled in a tree limb and looked, eyes wide, for any disturbances in the hot, summer, night.

* * *

I yawned tiredly.

[Yes Mantis! I yawn! Doesn't everyone do that?]

It must have been at least three o'clock in the morning. I pushed away the feeling of sleep and told myself to stay awake and to not fail my mission.

The forest seemed pretty quiet. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the silence, it calmed me. I watched as the sun had set and the darkness took over the sky.

The tall stalks of bamboo looked simply beautiful in the evening, it interesting to see all the different shades of greens and blues in the moonlight. The sound of the crickets and the light of the blinking fireflies made the forest look some-what peaceful. Nature had that kind of effect on me, but I knew better to be prudent, who knew what darkness might lurk in the shadows….

I sighed quietly, even though this job was important, I couldn't help but feel a little bit bored sitting up in a tree for hours. I felt that all I could do was think about my present thoughts and problems with this unusual trouble stirring up.

I had been told and warned by both Master Shifu and Master Oogway to stop thinking so much. They said that if I continued to think so hard, I would eventually hurt my mind. I tried to steady my breathing and find some peace within my thoughts.

The wind blew briskly and I turned my head in the direction it was blowing. To my surprise, I saw something strange. Well, what I saw would not have been strange if it were not three in the morning, but who would be in the forest at this time?

A couple yards ahead of me in a small open area was a blinking light.

I had simply thought that it was a common traveler making his way through the forest, but I was wrong….very wrong.

Everything was fine...or so it seemed. I stared sleepily at the light, thinking about how it looked like a glistening star in the springtime. I wished that I had brought a light with my supplies. All I had was some food and water, a medical kit in case I was injured, a rope for emergencies, and a small weapon, a dagger.

Suddenly, without any notice, loud, disturbing, screams echoed into the darkness.

My tough fur stood up on its end. Maybe I had spoken too soon about being bored….

Without thinking, I jumped down from the tree, landed on my feet, and headed to inspect the commotion.

The flickering light turned out to be a dying lantern. There was no one was in sight in the little meadow.

Had the owner of the screams been captured? There was no evidence of anyone even being there! Only a lonely lantern stood on a rock…

I frowned, had I been too late?

_SNAP!_

I gasped and realized that something was wrong, very wrong.

Someone or something had just stepped on a twig. I did not know why, but something in the pit of my stomach told me to brace myself for the worst.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a something lurking behind a tree. It seemed very short, but who knew if it was planning to overtake me. It looked….evil. I held my breath and swallowed, daring myself not to move.

Finally, at the last second, I whipped around and grabbed the hidden figure in an arm lock. I hastily got it in the best joint lock I knew by wrapping its arm behind its back and applying intense pressure. It cried out in pain. I took out its support by kicking it in the knee and the figure slouched to the ground and groaned.

Still holding the arm lock, I crouched down and looked at this stranger.

It looked at me in surprise and smiled in slight delight.

"Wow… I _never_ expected someone like _you_ to come along!" The _crocodile_ winked.

[Yes, seriously Monkey. That is the best French accent I can do….]

* * *

**A/N: There you have it! What did you think? Is that crocodile Grandmaster Croc? Or is it a completely different crocodile?**

**Sorry it was short, but that was a cliffhanger that I needed to put in there! There will probably be a whole bunch of cliffhangers in the story!**

**Did you like the comments the Five and Po did with the brackets? [I think that they're funny!]**

**Thanks again for everything! This story would not be at this point if it weren't for my wonderful readers, reviewers, and friends!**

**Don't forget to review; I want to know what you thought on this chapter!**

**Catch you later!**


	20. Trouble Arises

**A/N: Hello! New chapter! Yay! Here is the continuation of the story. I am sorry it is short. I also wanted to let you guys know that there will only be either 1 or 2 chapters left, I'm not sure. I'll see what happens.**

**I'm thinking that this chapter is very bad. I'm feeling that the characters are extremely out of character and that the story is too rushed. I don't know; please let me know what you think in your review.**

**Thanks so much guys for all the wonderful feedback, it means so much!**

**Disclaimer: I don't know Kung Fu Panda, ATA Taekwondo, or Master Croc's background story….Well, I guess I own part of it….**

* * *

_Chapter Twenty: Trouble Arises_

* * *

I glared at the crocodile. He had a somewhat shocked expression on his face.

The creature wore a kilt of brown armor around his waist, two matching guards on both shoulders, and six more brown pieces of armor on his back. His kilt was held up by a black belt covered in tiny spikes, and his two wristbands were made out of a similar material. He also had some strips of fabric wrappings on both legs and a spiked metal ball attached to the end of his tail.

He had seemed to be carrying a large sack until I attacked him; the brown bag was slouching on the hard ground.

"Who are you?" I demanded fiercely.

He smiled strangely. "You should know who I am. I'm the leader of the Croc Band-" he stopped at the middle of his sentence, darted his yellow eyes and paused. "Of the Croc Bakers!" he finished.

I frowned and gave a scoff. I think I had seen this crocodile before. Master Mantis had been captured by a croc bandit like this not too long ago. I had to be careful; I was probably dealing with a villain.

"Nice try," I scoffed. "I know who you really are."

His eyes lit up with delight. "You do?" he blushed. "It's so nice to have admirer from such a pretty lady."

I immediately wanted to punch him in the face. I despised when people said things like that to me. The evil crocodile was starting to make me very uncomfortable and punching him in the face wouldn't get me anywhere. I decided that I needed to go along with the croc in order find out what he was up to. This was probably the trouble that Master Shifu had explained.

My soft growl turned into a delightful purr. "Oh, yes," I replied back to the croc that was still lying on the ground. "I'm very fond of your work." I said, "Why don't we go over to that tree over there and you can give me your autograph."

[Laugh all you want, I had to do something. Master Croc seemed to really like attention, so I went along with it and complimented him. I had to act like that! I was a teenager for goodness sake!]

He winked back at me. "The pleasure is mine, mademoiselle."

[What's so funny? Stop laughing! Okay then, can anyone perform a better accent than me? Huh?... Wow Po….. That's actually pretty good….]

We walked towards the large bamboo tree. I turned around and faced him so his back was facing the tree. That way he was cornered and could not escape.

The crocodile took a scroll out from his sack that he was carrying. "What do you want the autograph to say?"

This was the time to make my move. Any later and the plan would be ruined.

I smiled sweetly. "Anything you want." I said.

"Perfect…." He replied. He continued scribbling on the paper. "Ah... what is your name mademoiselle?" he questioned.

Hmm, it was peculiar that this bandit didn't seem to recognize me as a master in training.

"My name is Tigress," I started to growl. "Master Shifu's apprentice…."

He looked up suddenly with surprise. "Uh oh!" he gasped.

I threw a punch very quickly, but he knew it was coming and turned at the last second, causing my fist to collide with his spiny back. I grimaced as pain flowed through my paw (I had been punching the iron wood trees for quite some time, but I could still feel pain.).

The bandit tried to swipe my legs with his heavy tail, but I jumped over it with ease. Suddenly, he grabbed me and tried to put me in a choke hold and I yelled ferociously.

I stomped on his foot as a distraction, yanked my neck free of his spiky arm, backslapped his skull, and tried to get him down with a corkscrew twist.

But his weight was too much for me. He plopped down on the grass and did a kick-up back on his feet. He snapped his jaw back and me and began to run right for me. I dodged at the very last second. The crocodile kept running and somehow managed to trip over the rock with the lantern.

The flickering object flew into the air and fell on his head. He cried out in pain and attempted to get up, but I kicked him in the stomach and managed to keep him down there and drag him to the tree.

I tied the villain up against the old tree with the rope that I had in my supplies. I shook my head; I was surprised that someone so good at Kung Fu could be so clumsy.

[No Po, I am not referring to you.]

The crocodile glared at me and snarled meanly, there was anger in his eyes.

I just laughed back sarcastically. "So, tell me just what the Croc Bakers are up to…"

The bandit stared at me for a few intense seconds. "There is nothing to be told." The crocodile sneered.

I glared back at him and picked up the brown sack that he had been carrying. "Oh, then you won't mind me going through your bag?" I threatened.

He gasped. "No! I-"

The rest of his sentence couldn't be heard as I dumped the worn, dirty bag's objects on the ground.

The pile was full of weapons, food, and clothing...Imperial clothing.

[No Po, there weren't any of his "awesome" capes.]

I looked up and pointed to the blue Imperial clothing. "What is this?"

He hesitated, "Oh… that is my uniform for my new job."

"Sure it is..." I muttered.

I stood up and faced myself to Croc. "Tell me what you're up to right now or you'll be very sorry you ever messed with me." I demanded.

He started to protest, but (judging by the look I was giving him.) he looked away and sighed.

"Things never go right for me. I was desperate for a way to provide for myself, but the only hospitality I will ever get is cell bars…."

I stood back. "Maybe you should of thought of that before you organized a band of thieves!"

"Why do I always have bad luck?" he complained.

I paused for a second. "Well, as Master Oogway says 'Seek to do good and you will find that happiness will run after you.'" I quoted.

"Hmmm…." He replied. "That actually makes sense. It's better than what I have been taught….."

I nodded back. "I think so too… Now stop getting me off subject!" I pointed back to the clothing lying on the dirt. "Tell me what you have done!"

"No." he snapped back.

I gave him a threatening look back. "Fine," I huffed. "I'll find out myself."

I crouched down and took a final look at the blue uniform. I rummaged through the pockets and pulled out a delicate, gray feather.

I narrowed my eyes at the bandit; this uniform had definitely been stolen.

I looked to the sky and saw that the sun was rising with bright yellow rays of sunlight. I made sure the rope was tight against the crocodile, picked up the uniform, and started to head back home. I had to tell me master about this.

"Where are you going?" the crocodile asked hastily. "What about me?"

"Don't worry," I smirked. "Someone will be back to escort you to jail."

I walked a few yards until I stumbled on something. I stood up to see what I tripped on, and to my horror, lying on the ground was a messenger from the Imperial Palace.

* * *

I bent down and inspected the wounded goose. He was fine, but badly injured. It suddenly came to me that this was the owner of the haunting screams. The crocodile had probably beaten this poor messenger.

Under the messenger's wing was a scroll. Even though that I had been warned never to read messages from the Imperial Emperor, I figured that in this situation that it was alright.

* * *

To The Valley of Peace Tailors,

Dear Sirs:

I would like to request seventeen more large Imperial Uniforms to be made. The others have seemed to be stolen. Please ship them as fast as you can.

Sincerely,

The Emperor of Gongmen City

* * *

I gasped. This is what the Croc bandits were up to! They had stolen uniforms from the Palace to dress like guards to steal something!

This was probably what Master Oogway thought was stirring up! I had to warn them. The bandits were probably going to attack at any time! I carefully picked the goose up and ran and fast as I could to the Jade Palace to tell Master Shifu what I had found out.

* * *

"Come Tigress, we do not have any time to lose." Master Shifu said.

We had rushed over to Gongmen City in record time. The seven of us, Master Oogway, Master Shifu, Crane, Viper, Mantis, Monkey, and myself reached the Imperial Palace of Gongmen City and ordered to see Master Flying Rhino (Thundering Rhino's father).

[Yes Crane, it was the Gongmen Uniform Incident. I just didn't report how I found out...]

"Are you sure they are going to attack?" the middle aged rhino asked.

I nodded. "Yes they are, but not without their leader, and actually, I have already captured him."

"Good work," Flying Rhino praised. "But we should make sure he doesn't go wander off. Oogway, Shifu, and the rest of you get all the hidden Croc bandit guards out of here. My son, Master Thundering Rhino will help you." The elder rhino gestured to a young adult rhino that was ready to take action. "Tigress and I will go and find this Crocodile leader."

We rushed to the harbor called the Wa Su Li River, but before we could get on a boat, the evil Croc bandit leader suddenly jumped out of the water. He swished his tail back and forth.

"Your knot tying is very bad, mademoiselle." He smirked.

[Hey, it's not my fault he got free! We all make mistakes and learn from them! Trying to remember that a crocodile has sharp teeth and can chew rope is out of my hand!]

I started to lunge at him, but Master Rhino stopped me.

"No. I'll handle this." He said intensely, there were puffs of determined air coming out of the rhino's nose.

I watched in my attack stance as the two battled fiercely. I was amazed at the techniques used in the fight. Somehow, Master Flying Rhino managed to get the bandit leader into a deadly hand lock. The bandit wailed in pain and waited for the final blow….. But it never came.

"Mr. Crocodile." The rhino spoke. "You have a marvelous technique in the art of Kung Fu. Why do you use it for evil and not good?"

The other fighter was silent; his head was down in guilt.

Rhino let go of the joint lock. "I am going to spare you."

Croc looked up in surprise. "What?" he asked.

"Use your skills for good and I will spare you." The master repeated.

The crocodile's eyes softened. "That is the nicest thing anyone has done for me." He bowed. "Thank you sir, I will do that…."

Flying Rhino nodded. "Good." He put a hand on the bandit's shoulder. Let's go get your other friends. I'm sure they are wondering where you are…."

* * *

"The rest of the story has been somewhat forgotten from my memory." Tigress finished. "All that I do remember is that we stopped all the bandits from stealing from the Gongmen Palace and Master Flying Rhino inspired Croc to change his ways."

The Dragon Warrior suddenly interrupted. "Then he became a casual fighter until Oogway made him, Master Rhino, and Master Ox become heroes by stopping the Wu Sisters." Po added.

"Exactly!" Tigress answered. "Are everyone's facts correct now?"

"You bet!" The panda replied. He looked at his friend and smiled widely.

"Hey, we're here!" Monkey suddenly exclaimed.

The six warriors scrambled to the deck of the boat and witnessed the beautiful city. Its water was flowing with elegance and crystal clear like reflections looked back at the six animals.

"And look, there isn't any wreckage to clean up!" Mantis cheered.

Tigress crossed her arms and gave a signature smirk. "It seems like you guys got lucky!" she paused and pointed a finger at them "Now, remember what I said about telling anyone about-"

"Yeah," Po interrupted. "Nobody tells no one nothing!"

Everyone laughed at Po's choice of words, got off the boat, and headed for Certification Headquarters to check in.

* * *

**A/N: How was that!? I feel like it was really bad…. *cries* I tried my best!**

** Actually, part of this story is real! Look it up on wiki! Master Croc really did use to be a bandit!**

**Please tell me what you thought, it would mean a lot….**

**Catch you later!**


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